


Machine Shop Love

by Boxerwing



Category: Original Work
Genre: Blow Jobs, Dating, Erotica, First Time Blow Jobs, Frotting, M/M, Machine shop love, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2020-02-04 18:45:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18610339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Boxerwing/pseuds/Boxerwing
Summary: A simple, modern-day romance where exes try to mess things up.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This work was conceived to introduce new settings to the genre of M/M romance and erotica. Jobs like surgeons, businessmen and mechanics are common enough to find, but I haven't yet seen one for the oil field and its surrounding supporting businesses. Add in a smallish town, and experienced younger man and a bi, less-experienced-in-the-way-of-gay sex older man, and I think I've done an okay job breathing new life into common tropes.
> 
> I hope you enjoy what you find and, as always, I welcome feedback, comments and the pointing out of errors.

“Do you need help getting the part out of your truck, Casey? Or can I just use our overhead crane and do it myself?” Mike asked me.

“I’ll just back my truck into your shop, and help you hook up the straps around it. Do you mind controlling the crane?” I replied.

“No problem, man.”

Mike was the machinist on-call at a local machine shop,Terry’s, here in Grande Prairie, Alberta. My company, Niagara Well Repair, did repair jobs on pump-jacks and oil field wellheads in the oil patch and around the Peace County. We had lots of parts but sometimes they needed adjustments and we only had minimal tools, so we often contacted Terry’s to help us out. Well repair happened 24/7 so I worked a rotating on-call schedule on the weekends. From what I could tell, Mike worked a similar on-call schedule since we often crossed paths on Saturdays and Sundays.

I backed my company pickup truck through the open bay door into the machine shop. Working together, we got the wellhead component up, out of the box of the truck, and onto the concrete floor in no time flat.

“Casey? Are you sure this is the part they want me to work on? It’s not exactly what I was told to expect.”

I grabbed my clipboard from the truck cab. “This is the piece I was told to bring over.” I flipped through my paperwork. “Yup, this is the one.”

“Shit. This is definitely not what I was told to expect. Can you give me a sec and I’ll call your supervisor?”

“Knock yourself out.”

Mike pulled out his cell, and started pacing. “Is this Jesse? Yeah, about that part you sent over…”

I watched Mike pace around the shop, and he ended up leaning over a large machine, his arm and forehead resting on the side. I ogled his rather nice ass for a couple of seconds then looked away. I certainly didn’t want to get caught sneaking a peek, so I let my eyes drift around the shop. The macho environments of machine shops and oil well repair were not all that open and welcoming of gays, so I kept my inclinations quietly to myself, especially since I didn’t know how Mike would react.

“…No, I know what you think you said but that is not what you told me! The part in my shop bay is not the part you described to me…”

It sounded like Mike and my supervisor Jesse were having a bit of a communication problem. Jesse was not the brightest bulb in the box and was a supervisor only because the owner of Niagara Repair was his dad.

“No, you’re not listening! Okay, look, just send me the drawing to my phone. Yes. Yes. I’ll call you back.” Mike straightened up and walked back over to me. “Sorry, but can you wait around for a bit? I’ve got some issues with the part you brought over.”

“Not a problem.”

I had absolutely no issues hanging around a little more. Over the months of seeing Mike on the weekends, even if it were for only a few minutes at a time, I had developed a bit of a thing for him.

Mike seemed quite a bit older than me: his scruffy beard was flecked with grey although his curly, longish dark brown hair was not, and he had some middle aged spread on his light frame. However, to me his age was irrelevant; his sparkling bright blue eyes drew me in and his no-nonsense attitude made me smile. He didn’t treat me like a meathead like a lot of other people assumed I was, he helped me getting stuff out of the truck when the vast majority of others didn’t, and he had a strong, direct personality; all things that I appreciated in a guy. It also didn’t hurt that he was totally my type: he was shorter than me, had a bit of extra weight and was just a touch rough around the edges. However, I noticed he sometimes had a wedding ring on, and there was no way I’d ever put a move on someone taken.

“Okay, I see where the problem is. Okay Casey, you can head out now. It’ll be ready for you in about four or five hours. I’ll give Jesse a call when it’s done.” He gave me a bright grin.

I smiled back. “I’ll see you later then?”

“Absolutely.”

~~~~~

A few weeks later, I dropped off another part at Terry’s to get worked on. Mike was there but he looked awful: his eyes were bloodshot and dull, and his mouth was downturned into a bitter frown.

“Hey, Casey.”

“Hey, Mike. You look like shit.”

He dragged his eyes up to look at mine. “Umm. Yeah. My wife left me for some kid who works the oil patch. Apparently I wasn’t making enough, and he does.”

“Oh, shit. Sorry, man.”

“Yeah. Well. You got that pipe?”

“Sure do. Let me just get it for you.” I grabbed a long steel pipe from my truck box and handed it to him. “Uh, Mike? You okay?”

His eyes were focused on the pipe. “Yeah. Totally fine. We were together for almost 20 years. I…just…yeah. Go for a coffee; I’ll get this done and it’ll be ready for you in about half an hour.”

I returned to the shop when Mike said he’d be done; the pipe was finished, and Mike still looked terrible. Seeing him suffer tugged at my guts, and I thought that perhaps I could take him out for a drink to get his mind off his troubles for a bit.

“Look, Mike. You look like you need something to distract you. Want to head over to Diamond's?” Diamond's was the only strip joint in town.

He looked at me with the same dull eyes as earlier.

“Diamond's is not exactly my thing.”

“No problem. What about The Canadian Brewhouse?”

He blinked at me a few times, like what I’d suggested to him had never occurred to him before. “Sure. Why not?”

“Meet me over at The Brewhouse after you close up. Right?”

Mike just nodded.

“Fine. Meet you over there.”

Mike sighed and nodded again.

~~~~~

It took me about an hour to finally get there after taking the part back to our shop; I had to load the component up into another truck that was heading up to the patch right away, then get another part ready to go for the next morning.

As was typical for a Saturday night, The Brewhouse was stuffed to the gills with oil patch guys looking to blow off steam and spend some of their hard-earned money. It was also hockey playoff season, so the crowd was boisterous and noisy. Mike was sitting off in a corner at a small table, nursing a beer, when I finally got there.

"Sorry I'm so late. Had to get another job ready to go. Would have texted you, but I don't have your number."

"It's fine." He took a swig of his beer. He offered his number and I gave him mine.

A waitress in a skimpy outfit came over and I ordered myself a beer and Mike ordered another for himself.

"So," I started. “Where're you from?" It was rare that people came from Grande Prairie; a lot of people moved here from out east to try and make money from the oil patch.

"Toronto area. You?"

"I moved up from Edmonton about four years ago."

"Girlfriend? Or, er, boyfriend?" Mike looked at his beer, then at me.

I was not expecting him to ask me about whether or not I'd had a boyfriend. Generally, everyone out here asked if you had a girlfriend or wife, but never if you had a male partner.

"Neither. My boyfriend and I broke up a few months ago; he went back down to Edmonton. Haven't really been looking since." I looked down at my hands. "So, I know you work at Terry's. Are you a supervisor?"

Mike snorted. "Not likely. I'm not supervisor material. I'm a tool and die maker, but Alberta doesn't recognize that, so out here I'm considered a machinist."

"What's the difference?"

Our waitress wandered over to drop our beers off.

"Just toss them on my tab, okay?" Mike said to the waitress and she trailed off again. "Tool and die makers can do everything machinists can do, but we have extra training to work highly accurately and to tight tolerances. In a basic sense, I create, modify or adapt metal parts."

"Like a millwright?"

"Millwrights are different. Think of it this way: millwrights fix machines, and I make things that make stuff come out of the machines."

“So, what kind of things have you done?"

"Well, I've worked in everything from small machine shops like Terry's, to large factories that make car and truck parts." He sighed. "I was hoping Grande Prairie would be my last move, but with Tara gone..." He just shrugged and finished off his beer.

"Think you'll head back to Ontario?"

“Shit, I don't know. Since Tara left, I've been trying to figure out what to do, but there's not many jobs available right now in southern Ontario. I'll probably stay for now, but if the opportunity comes up, I might head back. What about you? What do you do at Niagara?"

"I guess you could call me a shop hand. You know, jack of all trades and master of none? I do a bit of lathe work and drilling, I help out the well techs, and I keep the shop clean, that sort of stuff. Not exactly as technically demanding as your job."

"Going to stay a shop hand forever?"

"Nah. I do want to get my well tech ticket, but it's a matter of me getting off my ass to do it.” I pushed my chair back away from the table. “I’m just going outside for a smoke. I’ll be back in a sec.”

“Actually, I’ll join you,” Mike said and skidded his chair along the floor.

We headed outside to the smoking area where a large cement ashtray filled with sand was at the centre. While we smoked, we chatted about hockey (neither of us gave a shit about it) and discovered we both liked MMA and were looking forward to that night’s UFC fight. We were just discussing whether or not we could convince one of the bartenders to switch a t.v. over to the fights when I was elbowed hard in the back. I heard someone whisper, “Faggot!” as I nearly did a header into the ashtray and I instinctively turned with my hand in a fist, ready to ding whoever pushed me. I took a second to look and thankfully I did, because Mike was standing between me and a group of men my age, his arms crossed and a knife sticking up from the crease of one of his elbows.

“You’d better fucking apologize to my friend here,” Mike said, his voice low.

The group of guys looked over at me. Shit. It was the day shift of well techs from Niagara, as well as my supervisor, Jesse.

“Your friend is a fucking faggot. What? You some kind of faggot too?” I heard Liam say. Liam was Jesse’s best friend.

“Doesn’t matter. Are you going to apologize, or do you need some encouragement?” Mike slowly rotated the knife, letting light glint off the blade.

Jesse, Liam, and their friends didn’t say a word; they just looked at each other.

“You bunch of fairies aren’t worth it. Come on guys, let’s get out of here,” Jesse huffed, and they trailed off away from us across the parking lot.

Mike turned back to me, folding his knife back up and sliding it into his pocket. “You okay, man?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for backing me up. Those fucking assholes.”

“Friends of yours?”

“Co-workers. They found out I was gay about six months ago. I was running late for my shift, so Parker, my ex, drove me into work. Before I got out of his truck, he gave me a quick kiss and those idiots saw. Funny enough, right after that, I got switched from the day shift to the evening shift. As least I don’t work with them now. The workers on my shift just mostly ignore me or give me crap jobs.” I shrugged.

“Nice group of guys you work with.”

“Eh, I don’t give a shit. The pay is really good, and getting ignored is better than working with those assholes.” I glanced over at the group of men walking away. “You know what, Mike? I think the UFC on tonight is not pay-per-view, but on regular t.v. Want to come over and watch the fights at my place? I know I’ve got beer kicking around in my fridge.” I didn’t want to say, but I was not looking forward to chancing that Jesse, Liam and their buddies would come back to the bar and give us problems.

Mike looked at me for a few moments, thinking. I couldn't tell what was going through his mind, but finally he said, "Sure. Sounds better than watching it here. Let me go take care of our tab, and we'll head out."

~~~~~

Mike followed me back to my place in his pickup. I rented a room in a house and my roommates were all guys that worked the patch. Two of them, Damon and Riley, were in the middle of a three week rotation up north. The last one, Paulie, had ten days off but was over at his girlfriend's place most of the time; he only came back to pick up clean clothes and his mail.

Paulie and I had been friends since I moved up from Edmonton and he knew that I liked guys. It had never been an issue between us and when Parker left and I needed to move, he was the first to offer me a place to stay.

Surprisingly, Paulie was lounging on the sofa watching the hockey game when Mike and I got there.

"Get called out for a rush job?" Paulie asked me as I led Mike into the living room.

"Yeah, and I hope that's it for the weekend. Paulie, I'd like you to meet Mike; Mike, Paulie, my roommate and one of the first friends I ever made here in G.P."

Mike and Paulie shook hands and as Mike turned around to find someplace to sit, Paulie looked at me and motioned with his head for me to go to the kitchen.

"Mike, do you want a beer?" I asked him as Paulie slipped from the room.

"I'll have a pop if you've got one. I'm still on call so I'd better not drink anymore tonight."

Paulie was already in the kitchen by the time I got there.

"Dude! Is that him? The Mike you've been talking about for the past few months?"

"Shuuuush! Keep it down, okay? Yeah, that's him."

"You guys on a date or something? If you end up getting in his pants, don't fuck on the sofa; I sit there."

"He's straight, and we're not on a date. His wife just left him and he looked like he could use a beer. We went to the Brewhouse but we saw Jesse and his merry band of idiots so I thought we'd come back here. I know you're watching the hockey game but we came here to watch the fights. Can we please change the channel? I'm begging you, man." I grabbed a beer and a Coke from the fridge.

"Fine, fine. I'll go back over to Amy's to finish watching the game. Just let me grab my stuff from the dryer."

"Thanks, I owe you one."

I brought my beer and Mike's Coke through to the living room and Paulie headed off to the laundry room. I picked up the remote, changed the channel to the fights, and settled on the sofa.

"I don't want to interrupt if your roommate was watching the game," Mike said.

"He's just here to do laundry. He's going to finish watching the game at his girlfriend's."

We settled back to watch the fights. I had a few, or maybe more than just a few, beers and Mike had a couple more Cokes. Every so often, I surreptitiously peeked at Mike out of the corner of my eye. He was relaxed but watching the fights intently, the colours of the t.v. screen flickering across his face. Just having him near me, looking comfortable and so much better than a few hours ago made me feel warm inside that I’d helped him. It also certainly didn’t hurt to have him close by while we were watching half-naked guys wrestling around; my low-grade arousal had a good-looking, live man to focus on.

A lot of the fights went the distance, and it was pretty late by the time they were finished.

"I'm going to head home," Mike said. "I don't want to be too tired if I get called in, and I still have a half-hour drive ahead of me." He stretched his arms above his head, lifting his t-shirt to show a pale strip of skin, flecked with fine dark hair, above his waistband. I had the image pop into my head that I wanted to lick that strip of skin and continue lower but I shook my head to try and make the thought disappear.

Mike headed to the entranceway, put on his boots and coat, and said, "Thanks, Casey, for tonight. You really helped me get my mind off Tara for a while. It was good to just hang out and not have someone harping on me all the time to turn the fights off."

"You're welcome, Mike. Any time. And thanks for picking up the tab at the Brewhouse.” The multiple beers had taken the edge off my inhibitions and before I knew it, I cupped the back of Mike's head, leaned down and gave him a soft kiss.

Oh. Shit.

I couldn't do anything; I froze. I had barely lifted my lips off Mike's, and just stood there, eyes wide, fully expecting to get clocked. I looked into his blue eyes, hoping for anything but rage.

I was shocked. No rage. His eyes were just sad.

"Thanks for giving this old fart such a flattering compliment, but..." He gave me a ghost of a smile, and shrugged his shoulders. I just stood there, stunned, and watched him turn from me, walk down the walkway, get in his truck, and drive away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nota Bene:
> 
> Grande Prairie is a real place. It has about 65 000 people and is about a 4.5 hour highway drive north from Edmonton. Some places, like Terry's and Niagara Well Repair, are based on existing businesses but are not real businesses themselves. Other places that come up later on, like Starbucks, The Great Canadian Brewhouse and GoodWill are real places and places you can look up on Google Maps.
> 
> My favourite line from Chapter 1:
> 
> If you end up getting in his pants, don't fuck on the sofa; I sit there.
> 
> Words to live by.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drunk Casey ends up very lucky indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> N.B. Firing laws in Canada are not quite this...loose.

The rest of my weekend was quiet, although Mike was on my mind most of the time. Actually, he was on my mind the whole time. I waffled between texting or calling him with apologies or just leaving it. I figured he didn't hit me or seem mad, so my fear of screwing up things even worse convinced me to leave him alone.

All Sunday, our kiss floated through my mind and it was easy to let it be the lead in to all sorts of fantasies. Sometimes, the kiss led to a necking session between Mike and I on the couch. Other times, it led to him riding my cock and begging for more, or me eating him out then fingering him while I blew him to the best orgasm of his life. I jacked off so much that I had the best night’s sleep since Parker left me.

Monday came, and right after I clocked in at work, I got called in to the General Manager's office.

"So, I heard there were some issues with you being on call this past weekend," the GM said.

"I didn't have any problems, sir," I replied.

"Jesse told me you didn't answer your phone for a rush job that came in late Saturday."

"I got called in earlier on Saturday, but that was it." I pulled out my phone and checked out my voice mail. Nope, no missing calls. I showed the GM my lack of calls received for Saturday night.

"Well, Casey, I'm very sorry, but no matter what your phone says, if we can't get a hold of you reliably, it's no good you being on call. I'm sorry, but your services are no longer needed here at Niagara."

"What! You're letting me go because you couldn't get a hold of me? That's not fair!"

"Fair or not, your services are no longer needed here. I'll get your supervisor here so you can collect your things and leave the premises." He lifted up his phone and paged my supervisor to his office.

Shit. This was really happening. I was getting fired.

After my supervisor accompanied me to my locker then out the door, I drove around for a while in a daze. Getting another job was going to be hard; winter breakup in the oil fields was over, and the support service companies were slowing down for the summer. Damn.

I finally ended up making my way home and I installed myself on the couch, a case of beer on the floor by my feet. The beer flowed freely and I got pretty plastered. I didn’t even know how or when I made it to bed.

The next morning, I woke up with a hangover that could have killed small countries. The birds singing outside my window sounded like jackhammers and I was pretty sure something died in my mouth. I eventually made it to the bathroom for a leak and got to the kitchen for some coffee. While the Keurig was brewing, I found the Advil and downed a few. Once my coffee was ready, I wandered into the living room, closed the blinds and drank my coffee in the blissful silence.

I found my phone on the coffee table, and went to check my text messages. Dear fucking God in heaven, I had texted Mike while I was drunk and the messages were not subtle. At all. Shit.

(10:42) mike? mike?

(10:55) hey, how's it going?

(10:56) they fired me. What m I gonna do? Gotta make a livin.

(10:57) that sucks. why did they fire you?

(10:58) said I didn't answer my phone on w/e. But they didn't call! It's not fucking fair!

(11:01) you can go for your ticket now.

(11:01) but I wanted to ask you out. can't w/ no money.

Oh dear fucking God. I might have daydreamed a little taking him out on a date then us fucking each other’s brains out, but I would never have actually asked. I guess drunk Casey had different ideas.

(11:05) what?

(11:07) wanna ask you out on a date, but you're not gonna wanna go out with a loser like me

(11:08) are you drinking?

(11:10) yup. Lost count. Wanna come over? I'll share.

(11:12) no, it's okay. Drink some water and go to bed.

(11:12) want you to come over. You have nice lips. Soft. Wanna kiss em again.

Oh God. I'm going to die. He'll kill me or I'll die of embarrassment. Fuck.

(11:20) you still there? I prob shouldn't have said that but I did. I wanna kiss you again.

(11:21) yes, still here. Go to bed.

(11:22) please. Come on over. I'll suck you off, you don't have to do anything. You're straight but that's okay. You're just so fucking hot, I've dreamed of you fucking my face.

I had just signed my own death certificate. He was going to fucking kill me; slit my throat with that knife of his.

(11:23) stop texting, I have to go to bed. You go to bed too. Sleep it off.

(11:24) you've got the nicest ass. Bet your dick is just as awesome.

(11:25) I'm turning my phone off now. Drink water and go to bed.

(11:26) you still there?

Oh, dear God. Fucking shit. Shit.

I looked at the time. It was 11 a.m., and Mike was probably working. I figured he wouldn't answer a call while he was on the shop floor, so I thought I'd leave him a short message apologizing.

I took a deep breath in and called his phone; it rang, then went to voice mail. After the beep I said, "Hey, Mike, it's Casey. I'm so fucking sorry about the texts last night. I was totally out of line and I understand if you blocked me permanently. I...yeah. With everything going on in your life, you didn't need me texting you that stuff. I am just so sorry. You don't have to call back or anything, I just hope you can forgive me." I hung up, then went and crawled back under my covers, hoping to sleep the day away.

I woke back up around 3 p.m. feeling less like death and more just generally hungover. Grabbing my phone to plug it in, I noticed I had a phone message.

“Hey Casey, it’s Mike. I got your message earlier, and I think you and I need to have a chat. I get off work at 4:30, and I get home just after 5. I’ve got to take care of my pets and have something to eat, so I’ll call you around 6:30. Talk to you later.”

I listened to the message a couple more times, but it didn’t get any less worrisome the more I listened. “I think you and I need to have a chat” did not sound very promising; it sounded like when my mom would sit me down at the kitchen table and tell us we had to move again because she couldn’t pay the rent.

I stewed restlessly for the afternoon, wondering if I should just text Mike and tell him not to call or to block his number. However much I was a coward, I also knew when I needed to take my lumps like a man and if Mike wanted to tear a strip off me, I certainly deserved it.

At 6:30 exactly, my phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Casey? It’s Mike.”

“Hey. Um, how’s it going?” Shit, I sounded like an idiot. How do you think it’s going for him, moron? I thought. His wife left him and a gay guy he barely knows sent him obscene texts. He’s probably not doing that great.

“I’ve been better. Look, Casey…”

“God, please, wait a sec, Mike. I’m so fucking sorry. So sorry.”

“What exactly are you apologizing for?”

“You’re straight and I texted you some pretty, umm, inappropriate things last night. I…um…”

“Casey…”

“Just let me finish. I’d understand if you didn’t want to hang out again; it'd be awkward. I just, aw, fuck it. I just want to spend time with you again, but you probably won’t want to do that…”

“Casey.”

“…I mean I lost my job, and you’re straight and I’m not, and…”

“Casey! Shut the fuck up!”

I shut my mouth with a snap.

I heard Mike sigh. “Casey. Look. My life is shit right now. I haven’t heard from Tara in a few weeks, so I have no fucking clue what is going on with her. Granted, this is not the first time she’s left, but I’m pretty much done. However, I still have to get my life together, you know? I…I need some time, okay?”

Okay, this was not the conversation I was expecting. I was expecting him to metaphorically cut my balls off and feed them to me, and he was not doing that. At all.

“What are you saying, Mike?”

“Shit, you’re a fucking kid, and I’ve got concert shirts older than you. I…just need some time, to get myself together. And as much as your texts were inappropriate, and for God’s sake, don’t ever text again while you’re pissed, they were…um…kind of flattering.”

Flattering. He’d said that after I’d kissed him too.

“Mike?”

“Yes?”“What are you saying? I thought you’d want to kill me for coming on to you like that.”

“I don’t want to kill you, for Christ’s sake. I’m saying that maybe when I’m in a better place, we can go out. You and me.”

Fucking hell. “You’re joking, right? Yanking my chain?”“No, Casey, I’m not joking. I’m not straight; I’m bi. I do want to see you and maybe go on a date, but not until I’ve sorted things out with Tara. I still consider myself married, separated more like it, but I’m not single, understand?”

“I hear you, Mike. I really am sorry for coming on to you so strong, though.”

“Forget it. You had a shit day, got drunk and said some things you wish you hadn’t. We’ve all done crap like that. No harm done; you’ve apologized and that’s the end of it. Casey, I’ve a serious question. Do you have a drinking problem? ‘Cause the past couple of days sent off all sorts of warning bells. I don’t need to get involved with someone who has drinking or drug problems. I’m too old for any more of that shit.”

“I don’t have a problem, Mike. Sure, I’ll tie one on every so often, but times like last night haven’t happened since I was a teenager.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-four.”

“Damn. You’re just a kid. What the fuck am I thinking?”  
“I’m thinking if you want to go out with me, you’ve got good taste.”

“Confident, aren’t you?”

“Only sometimes. You’ll have to wait and find out when the other times are,” I said, a smirk leaking into my voice.

I heard silence for a few moments.

“Christ. Casey, can you give me a few weeks?”

I’d waited a long time for this and never thought it would ever happen. What would be a few more weeks?

“I’ll give you all the time you need. Can we still talk or text?”

“As long as you don’t mention either of our dicks, sure.”

I laughed. Perhaps things weren’t going to turn out so bad after all. “I think I can restrain myself. Thanks, Mike.”

“No problem. So, tell me what happened yesterday…”

~~~~~

For the next few weeks, we texted general stuff back and forth and chatted on the phone, but we didn't see each other. I was putting out résumés everywhere I could, but I wasn't getting any call-backs. By the end of a month with no job, I was getting desperate; even working at Tim Hortons was looking like an option. I got a text from Mike not long after I filled out an application at a gas station for a night cashier and the text was a good one.

(14:21) I might have a lead on a job for you.

(14:21) I'll take anything.

(14:22) there's an internal posting here for a yard worker moving pipes around and stuff. Do you have your forklift license?

(14:23) I do.

(14:23) put a résumé in. Yard worker is an entry position and no one here wants it.

(14:24) thanks! I owe you big

(14:25) just wait and see if you get hired.

I printed off a résumé, and thought I'd at least look to see if there was a posting on the city job board. Hallelujah, there had been one posted! I typed up a cover letter, and went right over to Terry's.

The main office area was nice in a bland, inoffensive way but looked clean and well maintained. The woman at the front desk looked over what I gave her; she sniffed and said she'd pass it on to the manager. She didn't give off a very positive vibe, but at least I’d made the effort.

"Um, is Mike still working?" I figured I'd at least say hello if he had a minute.

"Which Mike? We have a couple working here."

"Hancroft. Machinist."

"Yes, he is. I'll call him up here for you."

“Thanks."

I paced the office while the receptionist called for Mike to come to the main office waiting area.

"You paged me?” Mike said, arriving to the office cleaning his hands on a rag. He had grease smudged in a few spots on his face and my stomach twisted in lust; those bright blue eyes in that dirty face made me want to do all sorts of filthy things to him right there in the office.

"Yeah, this guy just put a résumé in and was asking for you."

He turned to me and gave me a lopsided grin. We shook hands; I wanted to hold his hand longer, but didn't want to push my luck.

"Hey. You put a résumé in? Good luck."

"Thanks. I bet I'll need it."

He just shrugged and smiled. "I'm off in half an hour. Want to go for a drink?"

As much as I wanted to spend some time with Mike I had a second of panic; my finances were getting worse by the day, and I'd really had to cut back.

"My treat," said Mike. "I know you're out of work."

My panic fled in the blink of an eye. ”Sure. Brewhouse?"

"Absolutely. I'll see you there in about 45."

I smiled at him and he headed back to the machine shop.

~~~~~

I found a two-seater table at the Brewhouse and I ordered a pop while I was waiting for Mike to get there. I hadn't had a drop of anything alcoholic since the night I'd drunk-texted Mike; I just wanted to show him that he didn't have to be concerned that I had a drinking problem.

The time I spent waiting seemed to drag on forever. I ordered another pop, and played on my phone while my waitress gave me a few dirty looks. I didn’t want to order anything to assume that Mike would pay for it. I didn’t want to be that kind of friend. Finally, I saw Mike enter and I held up a hand to wave him over. He gave me a big grin and came over to sit down.

“It’s good to see you, Casey. I’m glad you put in a résumé.”

“I’ve got to try. There’s not much else out there right now. What do you think my chances are?”

“If you can win over the manager, you’ll get in no problem. He just doesn’t like liars or loafers, so be honest in your interview, emphasize that you’ll work hard and you’ll do fine.”

He waved over the waitress and ordered a beer, and I ordered another pop. The waitress gave me another dirty look. I just smiled thinly at her.

“No beer? Go ahead, have one.”

“Nah, I’m good.”

“You sure? You don’t have to not have one just because I’m paying.”

“It’s not that. I just, well, I haven’t had a drink since the night I got fired.”

Mike tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. “Why not?”

I shrugged. “I wanted to show you I don’t care if I drink or not.”

“You did that?”

“Yup. I don’t want you to have worries about me before we even get started.”

Mike sat back in his chair and stared at me. I looked down and played with the wet ring my cold glass had caused on the table.

“That’s surprising. In a good way, but I’m kind of shocked,” he finally said.

I frowned. “Why?”

“Shit. That came out wrong. I mean, I’m just not used to people doing that kind of thing.”

“What kind of thing? Making sure they do things that help give you peace of mind?” I flicked my eyes up and caught his; he had a bit of a deer-in-the-headlights look. "Look, I just don't want you to have doubts about me whenever you might ready, if you ever are." I gave him a small smile and took a sip of my pop. "How are things with you and Tara?"

He looked down at his beer bottle and picked at the label. "I started the divorce paperwork and emailed them in to the government. I can't take it any more; she's only called and texted a couple of times since she left and she's been gone longer than any time before. I'm tired of taking her back and don't want to do it again."

He paused a few moments, and I could tell he wanted to talk more but wasn't sure if he could or not. Finally, he continued. "I loved her, you know? I thought we'd be together for the rest of our lives. The first time she cheated, she swore it was only once, that it was a drunken mistake and she'd never do it again. She stopped going out to clubs and drinking. Things were good for a while after that. I helped her as much as I could: found AA meetings for her, took her for doctor’s appointments, made sure the house was clean of booze, and tried to encourage her to take up hobbies.

“Looking back, she probably drank way more than I realized, but I didn’t want to see, I wanted to believe she was dry. And her cheating? I know I just had my head in the sand. She made so many promises, and I always hoped she would stop drinking and cheating for good. I tried, you know? But maybe it wasn't enough. Maybe I wasn't enough for her."

My heart hurt for him. Chatting with him over the last month, I'd found out he was a pretty easy-going and interesting guy; a guy who was kind and honest. Nothing he'd ever said made me think he was an unworthy or bad person.

"Sounds like she's the one with problems, not you."

"Oh, I've got my fair share too. I'm getting older, and everyday I notice them more and more. I..." He hesitated. "Yeah, I've just got issues too."

"Who doesn't?" I gave him a soft smile, which he returned.

"But..."

"No buts. Nobody has the perfect life, although a lot of people try and make it look like they do."

He took a sip of his beer. "You're pretty smart for a kid."

"I'm not a kid, and I'd really like to show you how very much not a kid I am." I didn't know if it was too soon to talk about dating, but I wanted to put it out there that I was still interested.

Mike was quiet a moment, then said, “I'm aware you're not a kid." A flare of heat blazed across his eyes. "Totally not a kid. Anything but a kid. "

"I'm glad you realize that. Look, I don't want to push, and I don't even know if you're ready or not, but I want to know where things stand between us. I like you, Mike. A lot. I'd like to get to know you more; go out for dinner or something."

“Drinking at the Brewhouse not good enough?" he said, a tiny twinkle in his eye.

I made an obvious look around. "Nah. It's okay for an evening out with the guys, but I prefer something a bit nicer if I want to go out with a guy. One specific guy." I winked and he chuckled lightly. "So you never really said. Are you ready to go out on a date? Preferably with me?"

His brow furrowed and immediately I was concerned.

"I do, but…" he started.

"Uh oh. I'm not a fan of buts. Asses, yes, but not buts."

He laughed, then returned to looking uncomfortable. "Cute. I just...it's...I mean it's been a very long time since I've gone out with someone other than Tara." He started shredding bits of the label he'd peeled from his beer bottle.

"What? Nervous?"

His silence and lack of eye contact with me spoke volumes.

"Can I ask why? Am I pushing you or making you uncomfortable?"

"No! I mean, not really."

The noise in the Brewhouse had been slowly increasing as more and more people came in to watch the hockey playoffs, and it was getting harder to hear each other.

"Mike, do you want to go somewhere to eat that's quieter, where we can chat a bit easier? If you like Japanese we can walk over to Ichiban, or we can even head over to Swiss Chalet if you're up for it.”

“Swiss sounds good. Better than good, actually.” Mike downed his beer, and settled up the tab with the waitress.

As we were walking across the parking lot for barbecued chicken he said, “So, is this a, um, date? ‘Cause I’m not dressed for it or anything, and I haven’t had a shower after work, and you’re looking way more presentable than me, and…”

“Mike, this is whatever you want it to be. Let’s just go and have dinner and talk a bit, okay?”

He nodded and I thought I heard a soft sigh of relief.

~~~~~

Dinner was delicious and during the meal we avoided talking about the elephant in the middle of the room. Mike didn’t really give any hints as to what he nervous about; we just talked about Terry’s and what it was like to work there. We were finishing off our coffee and desserts when Mike said, “I know you want me to explain.”

I waited patiently; I could tell that Mike wanted to say what he needed to say, but was just trying to figure out how to do it.

He smiled, but it was strained. “I’ve been over Tara a long time but now I’m in kind of a no-man’s land. I made vows the day I married her to be faithful and even though she hasn’t been, I still feel bound by the promises I made. On top of that, um, you’re a man.”

“Last time I checked.”

“I’ve never, I mean I haven’t…”

Ah. “You’ve never done,” I made a vague motion with my hands, “with a guy?”

“Never. Nothing.”

“Nothing? Like…”

“Like zero. Zip. Nada.”

“So how do you know you want to…with a guy?”

He just raised an eyebrow at me. “I might be inexperienced that way, but I’m not an idiot. How did you know you wanted to…with a guy?”

I flushed. Damn. That was the stupidest question in the history of stupid questions.

“Sorry; that was dumb. Can we leave the whole ‘guy’ thing aside for a while? You said you made a promise when you got married. However, it sounds like Tara has broken any agreement between you two when she cheated on you more than once.”He winced at that.

“I totally respect you honouring your promise. I admire it actually, in the face that all that’s happened to you. But maybe you should ask yourself this: are you sticking to the words of your vow, or the spirit? I don’t want to make up your mind for you, and don’t want you to make a decision you are uncomfortable with, but in the end she took the words you spoke and trampled them. You might still feel the spirit behind your words, but maybe it’s okay to let it go? It’s okay to break your vows; no one would look on you badly. At least I certainly wouldn’t, and I doubt any friends that truly know you would either.”

“I’ll say it again: you’re pretty wise for a kid.”

“I’ve had my own life experiences, you know.”

“You divorced?”

“No, nothing like that.”

“Parker?”

“Sort of. Anyway, it doesn’t really matter right now. Just know, whatever you decide: whether you want to wait until your divorce goes through or you want to try something now, I’ll be there for you.”

“I need to think for a bit. I mean, I have been, but it’s not easy, you know?”

“I do.”

He laughed. “Those are words I wasn’t expecting tonight.”I laughed back. “It’s a bit early for that. Did you want to talk about anything else?”

He rubbed his forehead. “You know, I just want to go home. I’ve got a lot of thinking and decision-making to do.”

“Fair enough.”

We headed back out through the parking lot to our trucks. The evening was lovely, if cool. I’d never had gotten used to spring arriving so late in the year up here, and forgot to bring my sweatshirt to the restaurant with me. By the time we reached his truck, my arms were cold so I frisked them to warm them up. Mike took me by surprise and rubbed his hands up and down my arms to help. I stood very, very still, unwilling to break the moment and spook him but his hands were like flames of desire burning my arms. Those flames were most definitely travelling directly to my dick.

“Cold? Do you have a jacket in your truck?” he asked.

“I’ll put the heat on when I get in the truck, and I’ve got a hoodie that I’ll toss on.”

His hands slowed and rested gently on my shoulders, and he tilted his head up so he could look at me. His eyes were so blue and they looked a bit scared and nervous, but they also had a generous amount desire in them. He looked at my lips and unconsciously licked his own, moistening and plumping them with the tip of a dark pink tongue. He raised up and gently touched his lips to mine; it was a soft, careful kiss full of promise. When he pulled back, he looked at me questioningly.

"Mike?" I asked. I was wound up so tightly trying to not scare or push him, I was practically vibrating.

"You okay with this?” he replied.

I nodded, my face starting to flush. "What about thinking and making a decision?"

"I think I've been thinking enough, and walking across the parking lot was time enough for me to make a decision. Casey Farber, will you go out on a date with me?"

Relief washed over me and I smiled like I'd never smiled before. "Mike Hancroft, I'd love to go out with you." I relaxed and I leaned over and in to him, collecting his smaller body into mine. He curled his head into the crook of my neck, and I buried my face into his soft, dark curls. He smelled of steel and of sweet, chemical-y coolant from the machines he worked with.

"I've got to go," he whispered quietly.

"Why?" Holding him my arms felt so right. He felt a bit soft with strong underlying muscles; manly and solid and better than I dreamed he'd feel.

"Because if I don't, I'm not going to want to go home, and I don't know what else I'm ready for yet."

I carefully extracted myself from his hold. "Will you call and let me know you got in okay?"

He huffed out a small laugh. "I'm a big boy. I think I can make it home in one piece."

"I know you're a big boy." I smirked, then just smiled. "For my peace of mind?"

"Fine, fine. I'll call." He ran his hand down my arm, then got in his truck. As I watched his truck drive away, I wished he was heading back with me to my bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My absolutely favourite line in the whole story:
> 
> "Uh oh. I'm not a fan of buts. Asses, yes, but not buts."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Parking is fun, no matter what age you are.

While driving back to my place, the simple images of Mike kissing and hugging me ran on a continuous loop through my head and I was more than half hard by the time I got home. When I walked through the house, I saw that Damon, Riley, and a bunch of their buddies were watching the playoffs. They looked well entrenched in the living room: empty beer cans littered the coffee and end tables, half eaten pizza congealed in their boxes and a few potato chip bags poked up from between them. I was not in the mood to socialize, so I just said a quick hello and headed off to my bedroom.

It was going to take a while for Mike to get home and call me, so I had some time to kill. I locked my bedroom door and stripped down to my briefs. As much as I was letting Mike dictate the pace of our relationship, I wished things were moving a bit faster and we were in the fucking-like-bunnies stage. We weren’t there yet, so I needed to take care of things myself. I reclined comfortably on my bed, and let my mind drift.

Those fucking eyes of his: they were like a stormy sea that I'd willingly drown in. His lips were so delicious, I wanted to nibble them and have them kiss me all over, then have them wrap around my dick. Shit. I lightly dragged my hands down over my coarse, blond chest hair which sent shivers through me. I wished it were Mike, sifting his fingers through my hair. I'd noticed he had very fine, tapered fingers, but his hands were strong and muscular, probably since he was working with his hands all day. I licked a finger, and lightly rubbed a nipple. I guessed Mike would be good with his hands; actually, I’d have placed money that he'd be excellent with his hands. It was so easy to fall into the fantasy that it was Mike touching me: my pinches were him nipping me, a finger wetted in my mouth and dragged across my abdomen was his tongue licking me.

I pulled off my briefs, and lightly stroked up and down my dick with my fingertips, imagining that Mike was taking his time exploring his first cock not his own. Desire flooded me, and suddenly I couldn't wait. I grabbed some lube from my bedside table and slicked myself up. I stroked, picturing that it was Mike that was touching and gripping me. My arousal was flying through me when my phone rang.

Shit. It was Mike. How'd he get home so quickly?

"Um, hi Mike. You got home, um, fast." Releasing my dick, I tried desperately to get my breathing under control and make my voice sound normal. I wasn't going to rub one out while he didn't know.

"I'm not going to be home for a bit. A semi jackknifed and is blocking Highway 43. I think I'm going to be stuck for a while. Just wanted to chat while I was waiting."

Fuck. The deep timbre of his voice was not making it easy for me to get myself under control. "Um. Sure. Anything you want to talk about?" My brain was still not fully functioning.

"Are you okay? You don’t sound like yourself. Nothing happened on your way home, did it?"

"No, I'm, um, fine. Just fine. You were just on my mind.”

"Okay, then. You just sound...oh. Oh! Oh God, I'm interrupting! Shit. I...uh..."

"You're not interrupting, Mike. Nothing I can't pick up later. Shit, no innuendo there, eh?"

He laughed.

"Fuck it. I just want to be honest with you here, Mike. You are really what I'm looking for: intelligent, honest and so fucking hot. When you kissed me tonight it was heaven and having you in my arms was like puzzle pieces fitting together. I want you, Mike."

All I heard was his soft breathing and the occasional sound of cars driving by in the opposite direction. "Tell me, Casey, were you just jacking off to the thought of me?"

I swallowed. "Yeah, Mike, I was."

"Shit." I heard him say softly. “Shit.”

I let my free hand drift down to my slightly softened dick, and stroked it back to full hardness. I took a deep breath in and said in a low voice, "Do you want to listen, Mike, and hear what you do to me?"

I heard a strangled noise from him, then a cough.

I took a picture of my face, my eyes glazed with desire, and sent it to him in a text. Without waiting for a reply, I sent another pic of my hard nipples, then one of my lower stomach showing a bit of my pubic hair, but avoiding my erection.

"What do you think, Mike? Do you want to listen?" I heard a garbled "yes", and chuckled. "I didn't quite hear you there. Do you, Mike? Do you want to listen to me masturbate while I'm talking to you?"

He took a deep breath in. “Yes, I do, Casey. I don't know what the fuck I'm thinking, doing this."

"You're not doing anything, Mike. You're just listening; nothing else, nothing risky." I stroked myself a few times. "Mike, lately you're the only one I think of. Even porn doesn't do as much for me as few thoughts of your mouth or your ass."

Knowing he was listening was so extremely hot and it spurred me on. "Mike, I want to make you feel so good, want to take care of you. I want to suck your cock. I want you down my throat; I want to suck your brain out through your dick."

The images I was describing flooded my mind; I could see them so clearly and wanted him so bad, my arousal was going to spiral out of control soon so I slowed my hand down. I heard Mike's breathing easily over the phone. "Mike, I'm already so close just thinking about you, I have to slow down. Shit, Mike, Mike." I took a few deep breaths and when things had eased a bit, I started stroking again.

"Mike, I want you, Mike. I want you so fucking bad, but I don't want to hurt you." Desire tore through me, and I was suddenly close to coming. All I wanted at that moment was to hear Mike's voice. "Mike, say something! Please Mike! I'm begging; please, say something!”

"Casey," he said in a low grumble, and with a twist of my wrist and a shout of his name I came and came and came.

When I had enough blood back in my brain, I took a pic of the come in my hand and sent it to him.

"Casey. Shit. That was something else."

"Just for you, Mike. For you.” I suddenly heard the grumbling and humming of tires. Mike sounded like he was going off-road. “Is 43 clear?”

“No. I just drove over the grass in the median. I’m coming back to town. Can I see you tonight?”

“What do you want? I don’t want you to regret anything in the morning.”

“I think I’m long past regretting anything. If anything, I regret taking so fucking long making my mind up.”

“Don’t let your dick make your mind up for you though.”

“I’m not. I just…well, I’ve thought about you for a long time. Since long before we went out that first time to the Brewhouse. I just wasn’t sure about so many things: whether I could live with myself having a relationship with someone outside my marriage, whether I wanted to do anything with a guy, or whether I was reading you wrong. Tonight, everything’s just slid into place, you know?”

“What do you want to do tonight?”

“I don’t know. I just know I want to be with you.”

“Look, we’re not going to have any privacy here; Damon and Riley have friends over watching the game and my room is not far from the living room.”

“Can you meet me somewhere? Maybe the Starbucks near the Brewhouse?”

“How far out are you?”

“I just crossed Range Road 51.”

“I’ll be at Starbucks when you get there.”

“See you shortly. I’m going to hang up so I don’t wreck before I get there,” he said, and he disconnected with a click.

~~~~~

I parked my truck right next to the Goodwill in the dim lighting; I was still close enough to the Starbucks for Mike to see me, but not right out in front where anyone else could. I got out and waited, leaning on my truck to keep an eye out for Mike. It didn’t take long for Mike to arrive, and he squealed into the parking spot next to mine. He rushed from his truck, and gathered me in his arms.

“Mike, I’ve got an idea about tonight. Not quite sure what you’ll think though, but I hope you understand after I explain.” I’d had some time waiting for Mike to think about things I’d like to do with him within our constraints.

“Whatever you want,” Mike said into my hair.

I pulled him from my arms. “Look, you’ve never been with a guy, right?”

He nodded. "So?"

“So, let’s start at the beginning. You’re, like, virginal.”

He raised an eyebrow at me and chuckled. “I’ve been married for 18 years. I’m the furthest thing from virginal.”

“But to me, you pretty much are. I want you have the experience of dating a guy. Come on; get in your truck and follow me.”

He did, and I led him out to to an industrial area in the west of the city. I guided him around the back of a building still in construction, where we wouldn’t be seen by passing cars.

He rolled down his window. “What are we doing here? Parking?”I got out of my truck, and hopped in the front passenger seat of his.

“Yup,” I said with a grin. “Why not? You didn’t do this with a guy when you were younger, so why not now?”

“Because I’m almost 45 years old with a mortgage and a truck payment and a dog and cats!”

“You do have a very nice truck, I have to admit.” I leaned over the centre console, put one hand behind his head and pulled him into a kiss. It was nice, but when I opened my eyes, I saw Mike wincing.

“You okay?”

“Part of me being my age is that things don’t work like they used to. My back is just getting too twisted and sore cranked over the console like this.”I took a quick look in the back of his cab. He had a fairly new Ford F-150 Platinum SuperCrew. There was lots of room back there, and he kept it nice and neat too. I grinned, and nudged my head towards the back seats.

“You want to neck in the back seat of my truck,” he looked at me, disbelief floating across his face.

I laughed. “I’d love to neck with you back there. Come on, Mike; pretend you’re 17 again.”

“At least I have a nicer vehicle than I did when I was 17,” he acknowledged. He grinned back and we hopped out and got into the back seat.

I laid my hand palm up on the seat between us in silent offering. Mike looked at my hand, then slowly let his eyes glide up over my body, pausing to take in my bulging crotch, my erect nipples noticeable through my polo shirt and my increased breathing. He finally lifted his eyes to mine, pupils large, and put his hand in my palm. I gently pulled him towards me, and just wrapped my arms around him, guiding his head to tuck into the curve of my neck, a mirror of earlier that night.

"You feel so damn good, like you were made for my arms," I said softly.

"I bet you say that to all the girls," he chuckled back.

“Mike, you’re no girl. And, no, I’ve never said that to anyone before,” I said in all seriousness. I pulled my head away from him and looked into those blue eyes of his. I saw heat and desire there, so I slowly leaned forward to kiss him.

He met me halfway. Mike kisses were tentative and light; no more than touching lips then lifting off to reposition then touching again. I was desperately trying to not take control and kiss the crap out of Mike because I was hesitant about being a bit too assertive. He slowed down the little pecks, then leaned back. He looked in my eyes for a few moments, then I guess he saw what he wanted or needed because with the next kiss he didn’t hold back. He leaned over me, grabbed my head and smashed our lips together. I kissed him back, barely holding back enough control to prevent us from getting our lips cut on our teeth.

As Mike kissed me, I realized that, God, did he ever know how to kiss: aside a few nose-bumps, Mike’s kissing was amazing and made me breathless. He continued to move his lips around and over mine, kissing gently then firmly then back again. He’d kiss each of my lips separately, then go back to kissing my whole mouth. It was tantalizing and teasing and delicious.

Then, he lightly licked the seam of my lips, and I let him enter my mouth. If I thought his kisses were good before, I now had to change my definition of “good”. He was fucking fantastic with his tongue. He’d reach deep in my mouth, then come back and flick around the tip of my tongue with his. He changed speed and strength and depth, and I felt like I was one step behind him but that he was carrying me and encouraging me on. He then sucked my tongue into his mouth and he very, very carefully bit down on my tongue. A moan travelled from my toes and ripped from my mouth. I had to retreat a bit before I ripped off his clothing; I did not want our first time, his first time, to be in the back of a truck. I pulled back from him.

“Fuck, Mike.”

“What?” he asked, concern in his eyes. We were both breathing heavily.

“I take back whatever I said about you being virginal.”

“What? I’m not sweet, pure and innocent?” He coyly batted his eyelashes at me while he smirked.

Thankfully, I’d cooled down a bit, and I wanted him back in my arms. “No, you’re not, and thank God for that. Now come here.”

He slid his arms around to my back under my arms and he pulled me until our noses touched. He rubbed my nose with his, and he tilted his head and kissed me again. This time, however, I took over control of the kiss, filling it as best I could with the desire that had been pent up for months.

While I was kissing him, I slowly repositioned us so that I was leaning flat on my back on the seat with him lying on top of me, my head resting on the arm rest of the door. I rucked up the back of his tee, and slid my hands up from his waist to his shoulder blades, stroking his soft skin and pulling him closer to me. I wanted to touch all of him; to feel all of him so fucking badly. He lifted up and I wiggled my leg around him, hooked my feet around the back of his legs, and I let my legs drift open to let him slide down between them. I ended up have to bend my one leg and plant a foot on the floor of the truck to prevent us from rolling off the seat, but it was worth it to keep all that amazing contact with Mike’s body.

He tucked his hands under my armpits to push his chest up and his groin down into mine. He ground his hips down, lining up our erections rather conveniently, and I moaned.

“You trying to take advantage of me by pulling me down on top of you like that?” he smirked at me.

“Shit, I think you’re more than taking advantage of the situation I got us in.”

He humped his groin into mine again and then said, “I’ve got to take advantage of the situation when I can, you know. You’re a bit,” he rolled his hips again, “bigger than me, and you could easily overpower me.” He smirked.

My eyes widened. Was he saying what I think he was saying? I gulped.

“How big are you anyway?” he asked.

“6’4” and about 220.”

He lowered himself so his chest was resting on mine, and he kissed me lightly. “Hmm, then you’re about half a foot taller and 40 pounds heavier. I definitely have to take advantage when I can.” He then nuzzled around my neck and sucked on my ear. I pulled him close, and tried to get my one leg higher around both his.

God, how I wished we were in a bed and not in the back of a truck.

I stroked up his back, then let my nails drag down to the waistband of his jeans. He arched in to me and started licking and nibbling on my neck and shoulder. I let my nails trail all over his back; his licks and nips were starting to become sucks and bites and his hips were slowly rocking into mine. I felt one of his hands rub my hip under my waistband, and wiggle around to the back, pulling me close to him.

Shit, shit. As much as this was turning my crank, I needed to stop this before we went any further and I wouldn't want to stop.

“Mike,” I groaned out. “Mike, shit. Stop a minute. Stop a sec.”

He lifted his head, his lips reddened from the stubble on my neck, eyes wide and soft. “What’s wrong, Case'?”

“I’ve gotta stop.” I didn’t want to, though.

“Oh. Okay then.” He started lifting off me with disappointed look in his face, and I pulled him close, just once more.

“You didn’t do anything wrong; it just feels too good and I don’t want to do more in the back of a truck.”

“Why, Mr. Farber, are you being gentlemanly?” he breathed into my ear.

“Sort of. Not really. I just…this is too important to me for us do this in the back of a truck.”

He lifted his head and looked at me, a curious expression on his face. “You are being gentlemanly, aren’t you? You’re concerned about me and my first time, aren’t you?”

I looked into his eyes and nodded.

“Shit,” he said, hugging me hard. He then pulled himself off me, and motioned for me to sit up. I sat up next to him and he grabbed my hand.

“Look, you know you don’t have to protect my virginity or anything like that, right?” he asked.

“Of course I know that.”

“Is this something different, like you believe you shouldn't have sex before marriage?”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “No. Trust me, I’m totally fine with having sex outside marriage. I’m probably a poster boy for that.”

“Okay, then can you explain to me what you're thinking?”

“I’ve, just, never been anyone’s first before. My first experience wasn't so great and I don’t want that for you. Even if you're not exactly virginal.”

He rested a palm on my cheek and kissed me softly, moving his lips lightly over mine. “Okay, Case’, I get it. If not now, when?”

“Whenever we can have some privacy and a bed.”

“How about this: tomorrow, I’ll go home after work and take care of Meeka and the cats. I’ll come back into town, pick you up and we can go out for dinner. Then, if you want, you can come to my place for the weekend. You don’t have to come back with me after dinner if you don’t want to and I’ll take you home whenever you ask. Sound okay?”

Sound okay? He had a modular home on 10 acres surrounded by fields, and no neighbours for kilometres. Sounded perfect to me.

“Hell yes, that sounds okay.” I kissed him, hard.

He kissed me back, then let me go. “I hate to do this, but I’ve really got to get home. Going up Highway 2 to avoid the pile up on 43 is going to add on time to me getting home. I still have to walk Meeka, feed the cats, and get enough sleep for tomorrow.”

I hugged him, and then sighed and let him go. “Call me when you get in, okay?”

“Are you going to be jacking off when I call?”

I laughed. “Call and find out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Favourite set of lines in this chapter:
> 
> “Are you going to be jacking off when I call?”
> 
> I laughed. “Call and find out.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ahoy! Good times ahead!

Mike did call and I wasn’t jacking off when he called; I had finished way before then. After we hung up, I slept the sleep of the dead until the ringing of my phone woke me up. It was a manager from Terry’s: could I come in for an interview at 10:00? It was 9:00, and I told him it was no problem for me to get there for 10:00. I sent off a quick text to Mike telling him about my interview, then hopped into the shower and got my interview clothing on: casual slacks and a golf shirt. Just as I arrived at Terry’s parking lot, I got a text back from Mike wishing me luck. I figured I could take all the luck I could get.

The interview went fine up until Stan, the GM, asked about the reason why I left my last job.

“I was let go, sir,” I replied.

“Why?”

I wanted to choose my words carefully. “There was some miscommunication that couldn’t be clarified, so they said they no longer needed my services.”

“Miscommunication?”

“There was some differing opinions on a situation. I couldn’t convince my boss that a mistake happened due to no fault of my own.”

“Did this mistake cause injury or put other workers at risk for injury?”

“No.”

“Did you have any other disciplinary actions against you while you worked at Niagara?”

“No.”

“Fine, then. Do you have any questions for me?”

I asked a few questions like benefits and shifts I’d need to work, and got all the answers I asked for. When I left the interview, I felt pretty good, although I knew they still had to check my references and that I’d have to wait until the following Friday to find out if I got the job as they were still receiving résumés. I sent off a text to Mike when I got out to the truck, and told him I was looking forward to seeing him tonight. He sent back a smile and a thumbs up.

I headed back home, and for the rest of the day I was restless. I packed and repacked an overnight bag a bunch of times, watched some crappy daytime television, and tried to have a bit of a nap. It seemed like time dragged on and on but, finally, my phone rang. Mike would be here shortly, thank God.

When Mike rang my doorbell and I saw him, I was stunned. He was wearing a kind of silky, dark grey tee and black jeans that hugged him in all the right ways, and he was wearing dark cowboy boots. Gone was the scruff and the soft, wild curls; instead he’d shaved and trimmed his beard and moustache into a neat goatee, and tamed his hair down with a bit of gel and tied it back into a ponytail. I love beards on guys, especially ones that were a bit longer, but the way Mike looked, he looked younger, happier, and delicious, like the lack of beard made him feel lighter. The other thing I noticed was the sheer amount of freckles he had. They were pale and soft, but the increased amount of facial skin showing made them more noticeable. They were fucking cute too.

"You look great, Mike. I like you in a beard, but I think I like this look even more on you."

He rubbed his face a bit nervously, but was smiling just the same. "I tend to not shave very often as my face gets too irritated, but I wanted to look nice for this evening. So I didn't look like a wild mountain man trying to cradle rob some young guy."

"I like the scruffy look, to be honest. Beards are a bit of a thing for me." His eyes widened and the surprise on his face made me smirk. "I like men that look a bit rough around the edges."

"I'll know for next time then. Anyway, are you ready for something to eat?"

I nodded, grabbed my jacket and my bag, and we headed over to his truck. I tossed my stuff in the back of the cab and when I got into the passenger seat, Mike just gave me a look.

"What? If the offer to going to your place for the weekend is still open, then I want to go. I won't change my mind between now and the end of dinner."

He nodded and seemed to relax a bit more after that. We drove over to Uncle Jennie's, a decent chain with good food and a relaxed atmosphere. I have to say, I did my absolute best during the meal to ensure Mike was aware how much I wanted to go back to his house for the weekend, how much I still wanted him. I held his gaze when I looked at him for a heart beat or two longer than might have been absolutely necessary. I bumped his leg with mine a few times, then finally just ended up resting my knee next to his. I flirted so much with him, there were times I thought we might both go up in flames. I might have moaned, just a little, during the first few mouthfuls of my steak. By the time dessert came, Mike was shifting regularly in his seat, flushing off and on like a traffic light, and trying to surreptitiously fix what I assumed was an uncomfortable position for his hardening dick.

We were walking back to his truck when Mike said, "Do I need to ask?"

I smiled at him. "I think you know the answer to that. Worried?"

"A bit nervous, but not enough to not want you to come over. Are you? Coming over?"

I grinned. "Oh yes, I'm coming over. And hopefully under. And maybe in the shower too. Everywhere and anywhere, I'm hoping."

Mike flushed again but laughed heartily. He grabbed my hand and held it until we got to his truck and drove off.

~~~~~

On the drive back to his place, we held hands over the cushioned centre console. Every so often, I’d remove my hand from his, and stroke up over his forearm and down to the back of his hand. His hand was rough with dark, embedded grit around his nails and in the deeper grooves of his skin, but the skin on his forearm was soft and covered strong muscles. Usually by the second stroke up his arm he was groaning and reached over to grab my hand back in his. I chuckled quietly to myself each time he grabbed my hand.

After a bit of a harrowing trip down a gravel range road, we turned down a driveway to a cozy-looking ranch-style house surrounded by trees. I heard the soft woof of a dog as I hopped out of the truck, grabbing my bag after I did. Mike held my free hand, and led me up to his front door.

As he was unlocking the door, he said, “Meeka can be a bit…difficult sometimes. Just ignore her until she comes over to you, okay?”Mike had told me about his dog before. Meeka was a Husky/Boxer mix who had really bonded strongly with Mike. Apparently, she didn’t really like Tara, which made me like her even before I met her. “No problem. I’ve been around big dogs all my life, and I know better than to get in their faces right off the bat.”

Mike gave me a surprisingly shaky smile, and opened the door. In the entryway Meeka stood, tail wagging vigorously as she saw Mike. I waited a few moments as he bent down and rubbed her thick fur hard, and he mumbled a few cute words to her. She then saw me; her tail stopped and curled under her, and her head and ears drooped.

“Meeka, this is Casey. It’s okay, girlie. He’s okay.”

I did my best to not look at her; I focused on the wall in front of me, every once in a while looking out the corner of my eye to see where she was or what her body language was saying. I could tell she was curious, but unsure; she’d tiptoe forward then back, lean on Mike then sniff the air near me. Eventually, her head, ears and tail went back up, and she turned and trotted off into the living room.

“Oh. Well, she’s never done that before; usually she’s a bit more growly. Anyway, come on in and let me take your bag for you,” Mike said, straightening up. I entered, handed my bag to him and toed my shoes off, putting them on the boot mat by the door.

“Come on, let me give you the nickel tour,” Mike said.

To the right of the entryway were a couple of closets, a bathroom, and two bedrooms. Mike explained that one room was a guest room that the cats used, and the other one was set up for his lapidary work. Mike enjoyed finding the beauty in unusual stones and gems; he could work a bit more freely with them than the limitations needed for working with steel.

We then made our way into the living room, which was to the left of the main door. The living room and kitchen were one big room; quite common in this style of modular home. As we walked through, Mike pointed out the door to the deck on the back of the house and mentioned we could spend some time out there if I wanted to over the weekend. We continued on, and I saw a laundry room with a freezer and a furnace, then we made it to the master bedroom. Meeka was staying fairly far away from me but I did notice a couple of tail wags from her.

The master bedroom was huge: it had a couple of dressers, a chest and and, most wonderfully, a king size bed. The ensuite had a surprisingly large bathtub, certainly big enough for two. Mike put my bag on the chest and said, “Can I show you the garage? We can take Meeka out with us and we won’t need to let her out until morning.”

I smiled and nodded, and Mike gave a sharp whistle, we got our shoes on and he led me out the door to the deck. Meeka followed us out and bounded off the deck and into the trees. The garage wasn’t fa, and Mike lifted the garage door. The garage was huge; it was more of a combined garage/workspace. In there were a couple of quads, a couple of snowmobiles, and a car under a canvas. Except for a handful of boxes in one corner, the rest of the garage was barren. Meeka trotted into the garage after us.

“Someday, I want to get back into woodworking. When we left Ontario, Tara wouldn’t let me bring my bigger shop tools with me, so I sold them. I hope I can replace them someday because I love making furniture and really miss it. I want to try and combine in my lapidary work into wood; maybe jewellery boxes, but I’m not sure.”

“You’ve given up a lot for Tara, haven’t you?” I said softly, and I reached for his hand.

Mike just shrugged as he grabbed my hand. “I did what I thought was best. It’s not like I can’t always buy more tools.”

“Uh huh.” I pulled him into a hug, and felt him relax. “Do you think Meeka’s been out enough? I’d really like to go back inside now.”

I felt Mike stiffen nervously in my arms. I leaned back to look at his face, keeping him in my arms. “Hey, hey. What’s going on? Talk to me.”

“Don’t know. Just…”

“We don’t have to actually do anything, you know. Maybe tonight we can watch a movie or something? And I can sleep in the guest bedroom, if you want.”

“God, no. I mean, I want you so badly, but…”

“But what?”

“Would you believe I’m fucking nervous?”

“‘Bout what?”

Mike just gave me a weird look.

“Um, performance issues?” I asked carefully.

“Not any more than the average middle-aged guy, I think. At least nothing that needs a little blue pill.”

“Then what?”

He took a big breath in. “I’ve kind of got this illness; I’ve got really loose and relaxed joints.”

I smiled at him. “You’re double jointed?” He nodded. “And this is a problem to make you nervous?”

He pulled out of my arms and starting pacing around the garage. “Shit. I know the running joke is that every guy should look for a girl who’s a double-jointed nympho that can breathe through her ears and whose father owns a liquor store.”

“And?”

“Being hyperflexible is not exactly a good thing. I have…a lot of pain. My knees dislocate routinely on their own, my hips hurt a lot, and my wrists and shoulders ache randomly. On top of that, I’m not exactly in great shape. All of this caused a lot of problems between me and Tara. I don’t want that to happen between us. Maybe this was a mistake…”

I rushed over to Mike and pulled him back into my arms. “Hey, this is no mistake. Whatever physical problems you have, we can work around them. Whatever you want to do, or are able to do, is fine with me. Honest.”

“But you’re a young guy, and I’m not…”

“So? There’s so many reasons I’m here right now, and only one of them is because I want to make love to you. I like you, Mike. You’re interesting, and smart, and I want to spend as much time as I can with you.”

I felt Mike let out a soft sigh, then he reached up with his hands and pulled my head down to his. He kissed me softly then said firmly, “Okay. Okay then. If you still want…”

“I do still want.”

Another soft kiss. “Then let’s get back to the house,” and he grabbed my hand and led me away.

~~~~~

When we got back in, Mike went off to lock up and feed the cats. I was leaning against the island in the kitchen when Meeka came over to me, tiptoeing and sniffing me. I stayed perfectly still, but when she’d look up at me, I’d look down at her and blink slowly a few times, then look away. She came a bit closer, sniffed my down-hanging hand and I wiggled my fingers a little. She kept sniffing: my legs, my crotch, my feet. I flipped my hand over and Meeka drove her nose right into my palm, snuffling and snorting. I saw her tail start to wag, and her ears were perky and curious, so I rubbed her under her chin and said, “Hey there, girl. How’s it going? You daddy’s girl?”

Her bum started wagging along with her tail, and so I carefully and slowly dropped myself down in a crouch to her height. She shuffled back a bit as I did so, then she tiptoed back and sniffed my shirt and my face. When Mike came back to the kitchen, Meeka gave me a quick lick to my cheek, then trotted off to him.

“Um, did she just lick you?” he asked.

“Yup,” I said, standing back up and leaning back again on the island.

Mike patted her head, thumped her a bit on her sides and said, “She just doesn’t do that. She’ll cower, or bark and growl then run away. What a good girl! Meeka’s such a good girlie!”

I had to smile; it was so obvious that Mike loved her a lot and was relieved that she and I were starting to get along. Meeka trotted off and he came over to me, stopping in front of me with his legs bracketing mine. “So,” he started, “did you want to watch a movie?” He ran his work-roughened hands up my arms, then over my shoulders and down my chest, to stop and rest on the waistband of my pants. “Or, do you want to do something else?”

“Mmm. I think the ‘something else’ sounds pretty good,” I replied honestly. I pulled Mike’s hips to mine, and I kissed him: simple, easy, but full of heat. He wriggled his hands under my shirt and rubbed his hands all over my waist and abdomen, the roughness of his hands offset by the gentleness of his touch. I wanted to feel his skin and muscles badly, so I broke our kiss and pulled off Mike’s shirt as quickly as I could. His body was pale with fine dark hair scattered over his shoulders and upper chest, which then tapered down between his soft nipples, over his belly and trailed off into his jeans. He had freckles everywhere, but they were mostly concentrated on his arms, shoulders and upper chest, and Goddamn, they were cute and hot and I wanted to lick every one.

“Disappointed?” he said, noticing I was looking at his body.

I looked at him straight in the eye. “Fuck, no. Jesus, I want to lick every single freckle I can see,” I kissed him hard, grinding my groin into his, “then I want to find the ones I can’t see right now, and lick those too.” I ground our pelvises together again, and he tilted his head back with a moan. His long, pale neck was just too tempting, so I leaned forward and licked him right up from his collarbone to his jaw. He shuddered. “Jesus Christ, can we move this to bed? Please?”

He nodded, his eyes bright with desire. “Come on,” he said, and he grabbed my hand and led me to the bedroom.

~~~~~

“I’m feeling a bit overdressed,” I said, pulling off my shirt when we entered the bedroom. When my eyes focused back on Mike, I saw him tentatively reaching out for my chest. Carefully, I took his hand in mine, and rested the palm of his hand over my heart, smiling at him the whole time.  He looked at his hand, mine covering his, then he flicked his eyes up to mine, a soft smile on his face.

Taking a shot in the dark I said, “You know, it’s okay to touch. Anywhere you want, actually.” That got me a grin and a sigh of relief from him. He lifted his other hand to my chest, and I dropped my hand away. He started sifting his fingertips through my chest hair, and it was so close to what I had imagined when I was jerking off before the phone sex, that I involuntarily sucked air in through my teeth and closed my eyes in arousal and delight. He was being careful and delicate; gently filtering my coarse hair through his fingers, the warmth of his hand ghosting the skin of my chest.

“You know,” he rumbled low, “I didn’t think I’d be in to body hair. But damn, Case’, yours is a tactile delight.” He rubbed again, this time gripping what he could and lightly tugging. Shit; I didn’t think him doing that would turn me on quite so much and I groaned; I grabbed him and pulled him into my arms, kissing him hard.

He chuckled lightly and whispered, “Like that, Case’?”

I simply growled back in response.

His hands were between us so he trailed them down my chest and abdomen to curl around to my hips, pulling me closer. Doing that made our dicks rub together through our pants, and I heard a moan escape from Mike. Mike held my hips and frotted up against me, his head and his chest tilting back and his eyes closed, his breath puffing out soft and quick.

“You know what, Mike?” I said, stroking his upper body all over with my fingertips.

His head tilted back forward even though he was arched against me; his eyes glazed and unfocused. “Umm, what?” he asked.

“What you’re doing feels even more awesome when we’re both naked.”

His eyes instantly cleared and a huge grin filled his face. “You want to do that? I mean, I’ve always wanted to feel what it was like to rub dicks together with another guy, but…” He shrugged and looked away.

I put my arms around his lower back, pulled our hips together even more and I ground myself harder against him. Mike groaned again, his eyes temporarily rolling back. “But what, Mike?”

“Thought it only happened in porn.”

I laughed. “There’s a reason it’s in porn, man. It feels fucking awesome. Now come on, let me show you how good it feels.” I let him go, and worked at the button and zipper on his jeans. I started pulling his pants down when he motioned for me to stop so he could pull his socks off. While he hopped around trying to get stripped off, I got myself naked as quickly as possible and slid between the cool, silky cotton sheets on his bed, and flipped the top sheet and blanket open.

He was finally naked and I drank in the view, my mouth watering. Sure, he had a soft belly, but he carried it high on his abdomen and it just looked natural on him. His ass was small and tight; both cheeks were a nice handful and covered in curly dark hair. His legs were muscular but slender and covered with fine dark hair and his hips were actually quite narrow. From a thick thatch of dark pubic hair a decent sized penis was chubbing up nicely; it was cut which was fine by me.

He pulled the tie from his hair and dropped it on his bedside table. “Meet your approval?” Mike asked as he slid into the bed next to me, pulling the sheet and blanket over him.

“You don’t need my approval, Mike. But I do have to say, your body looks even better naked than I could have imagined. Now come on over here,” I said, lifting the sheets so he could shuffle over to me. He cuddled in close, and gently started kissing me with the amazing technique he’d used when we’d necked in the back of his truck; alternating soft and hard, licking and sucking and essentially just driving me crazy.

His hands started wandering over my body: over my shoulders, down my arms, then all over my back, stroking and scratching lightly. A bit of pain with my pleasure was always something I enjoyed, and I groaned into Mike’s mouth. I wiggled one arm under his neck to around his back, and let my other hand wander aimlessly over his chest, his side, his hip and down his leg as far as I could reach. His skin was surprisingly soft, especially on his back and sides, and he wriggled as I stroked, trying to arch into my body and curl up into my hand the best he could. He was moaning lightly into my mouth when he broke our kiss; then he nuzzled into my neck, licking long swaths as he explored. The soft wetness of his tongue gave me shivers, and I arched my head away to allow him access to whatever he wanted on me, my groin thrumming with rushing blood. Licking his way along, he found my ear and nibbled the lobe gently, then soothed it with another lick as I moaned and arched my groin into his. I heard a soft chuckle, and he arched into me, one hand tweaking a nipple as he nibbled again on my lobe. He soothed my ear with a lick and my nipple with a soft stroke, but he kept his groin mashed up against mine.

Our dicks had only grazed during this time, so I rearranged myself a bit to line us up as we were both hard. With a slow and easy roll of my hips, I rubbed my dick along and around his, finishing by humping our hips together. A small groan released from his mouth, and Mike relaxed back and imitated my movement; a long slow stroke with a bit of a push at the end.

Mike placed his hands on either side of my head and looked into my eyes, giving me a mischievous grin as he rolled his dick against mine, again and again.

“So, what do you think?” I asked, grinning back. He answered by rubbing his hips side to side, then up and down again.

“I think I could get used to it,” he chuckled back at me, he face flushing and his breath coming in short pants.

“You know what makes it feel even better?”

“Hmm?”

“Lube. Got any?”

“Bedside table, top drawer.”

I gave one final slide against him, then flipped over and rustled around in the bedside table drawer. Mike was prepared; there were a couple different kinds of lube and a few different types of condoms.

Condoms. Shit. I should have asked sooner. I grabbed a bottle of lube and rolled back over to Mike.

“Mike, before we go any further, we gotta talk,” I said, trying to get the safety seal off the top of the bottle.

“Problem?”

“I hope not. Umm, testing for STIs. I haven’t done anything with anyone since Parker, and I got tested right after he left and I’m clean.” Finally, I peeled the seal off, tossed it in a garbage, and twisted the lid back on. I looked over to Mike, who looked kind of stunned. “What about you?” I asked, worried that his face already told me the answer.

“I haven’t been with anyone except Tara, and the last time we did anything was, like, 4 or 5 months ago. But I’m not 100% sure I’m clean because I don’t know if she did anything with me while she was cheating. I didn’t think…” His eyes were wide as the enormity of the situation kicked in for him.

“Hey, not a problem. You’ve got condoms, and I brought some too, so it’s all good. We can work around it.”

“You sure? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable or risk your health or anything.”

“You got open sores or wounds I need to worry about?”

“No,” he replied.

“Neither do I.” I rested a hand on his cheek. “Don’t worry. There’s lots and lots we can do that’s fun, and we can wrap up if we need to. Easy peasy.”

“If you’re sure…”

I squeezed a glob of lube in my hand, and tucked the bottle between the headboard and the mattress. I reached between us, shuffled my hips to his, and grabbed both our cocks in my slicked-up hand. I stroked up, rubbed over both our tips, then dragged my hand back down. Mike groaned in pleasure.

“What do you think? I’m absolutely positive.” I captured his lips in a kiss, and let my hips do their thing, keeping a snug hand on both our cocks.

Mike was panting and his eyes were closed as he let his dick slide through my hand, our heads rubbing nestled together. I could tell he was into it, his own hips rocking at a steady pace, but we weren’t lining up easily enough for my liking, so I broke our kiss. I gently manhandled Mike over on his back, then climbed over him to straddle him and rested on his thighs.

“How’s this on your hips, babe?”

“‘Babe?’”

I shrugged. “Is that okay?”  
He smiled back. “I’m more used to being called something less pleasant, so ‘babe’ works for me. And yeah, my hips are fine like this. Everything is fine like this.” He started threading his hands through my chest hair, tugging again every so often. I returned his smile with a groan, tucked my hands under him, and lowered myself down so the whole front of our bodies were in contact. He felt so good under me, like he was made for me, as corny as that sounds, and I sighed in comfort. I rolled my hips like before, and our dicks lined up much better that time, so we both rolled our hips together in time with each other’s.

Smooth and silky and hard, Mike’s dick seemed to slide all over mine, each thrust a different but equally arousing sensation. My heart was pounding and sweat was beading over my forehead, while Mike dragged his nails up and down my back in sweet pain. Our balls rubbed together, and our dicks slid side by side and all around each other, and the friction of our abdomens provided just the right amount of extra stimulation. It was hot and decadent in every way, and better than I’d ever fantasized.

Mike lowered his hands to my ass, grabbing large handfuls and pulling me harder and closer with each stroke. He was pumping his crotch into mine, and the moans and groans which tore from his throat spurred me on. God, Mike felt so damn good, writhing and moaning under me; he was squeezing my ass and telling me how good I felt to him, that he’d never felt anything like this before. I felt like a Goddamn sex god.

I could feel my balls start to pull up and the tight, hot sensation in my groin that told me I was getting close, so I shifted my weight to my one arm, and pressed my other between us, grabbing both our cocks in my hand. With a stutter and a lurch, Mike screamed out my name then bit the top of my shoulder, one spurt into my hand and then spurting the rest in huge, thick stripes between us. The extra lubrication from his come was all I needed and, with my hips losing coordination, I arched and came with stars in my eyes, pumping my come between us.

Shit. It had been way too long since I’d had good sex with someone. Mike might have started out nervous, but he’d certainly ended up not holding back, as far as I could tell. I rested on top of him for a bit, trying to get get some blood back in my brain before I tried to coordinate my limbs to roll off of him. I kept as much of my weight on my arms and my legs as I could so I didn’t squish him, but tried to relax the rest of my body. I rested my forehead on his and he opened his blue, blue eyes, the corners crinkling up into a smile. I felt my heart lurch and my stomach flip; I desperately wanted to make him smile like that whenever I could.

“Am I too heavy for you?” I asked, worried that my weight would bother his joints.

He just shook his head no, wrapped his arms around my back, and pulled my head in close. I sighed, and was trying to relax without crushing him when I heard tiny sobs from him.

“Mike, babe, what’s wrong? Are you sore?”  
He shook his head no, and just kept holding me. When his tears finally stopped, he said quietly, “That was the best thing to happen to me in a very long time. Thanks. A lot.”

“Anytime, babe.” I gave him a quick kiss, then pushed up and off him, our mixed come dripping down our abdomens. “Washcloth?”

Mike gave a quick sniff. “In the cabinet above the toilet.”

I padded into the ensuite, letting the water in the sink run to warm up a bit as I found some washcloths to clean up with. I grabbed one, wetted it, and returned to bed.

Mike was just finishing blowing his nose when I returned. I straddled him again and wiped him up carefully, even milking his cock a bit to get the last drops out. I wiped myself up, tossed the cloth in the laundry basket, and crawled under the blankets next to him.

We shuffled around a bit to get comfortable, and Mike found it easiest for him to curl up to me so he could support his sore joints the way he needed to. He’d flung a leg over my thighs and draped an arm over my chest as I lay on my back, one arm under his neck and the other bent up so my hand was under my head.

We lay there quietly a while, just enjoying being with each other. His fingers toyed with my chest hair and I rubbed his back in small strokes, eliciting tiny sighs of pleasure from him.

“You like your back rubbed?” I asked.

“Pretty close to my favourite thing in the world, right after a good steak and cheesecake,” he mumbled back. “What about you? What are your favourite things?”

“In bed, or generally?”

“Either. Both. Doesn’t matter.” He snuggled in close.

I thought a moment. "In no particular order: lemon pie ice cream from the Ice Cream Barn in Clairmont, ketchup potato chips, and taking control and pleasing my lover in bed."

He stopped his hand and opened one eye to look up at me. "So, the jokes I made when we were parking about you overwhelming me and taking advantage of me..."

I stroked his back a bit, and his handsome blue eye closed again, a soft sigh escaping from his lips. "I took them for what they were: jokes. I'm not into BDSM or anything, I just really enjoy taking the lead. It's not to say there aren't times I like to just relax and enjoy the ride, but I tend to prefer to be...more...umm, I dunno, ‘active’ in sex than laying back and having stuff done to me. I get too twitchy lying there, and I really get off touching and arousing my lover.”

“Well, don’t I sound awesome next to that. Getting my back rubbed sounds so selfish.”

“Nah, you were just being honest, like I was with you. Honesty’s a good thing, right?”

He mumbled an “uh huh”, and started rubbing my chest again. After a couple of minutes, I noticed Mike’s hand pause then start back up again, and then the times he paused got longer and longer until he stayed completely still. His breathing was soft and easy, and I figured he’d fallen asleep.

I was getting antsy for a smoke; I usually wanted one or two after sex, but I didn’t know if Mike smoked in the house or not. I didn’t see any ashtrays in the bedroom, so I thought if I could get out from under Mike, I’d head to the deck for a bit.

Mike, thankfully, made it easy for me to get out of bed; within a few minutes, he ended up rolling off me on his own. I crept from the bed, put on my jeans and a sweatshirt from my bag, grabbed my smokes, and tiptoed from the room.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My favourite dialogue in the chapter:
> 
> "Oh yes, I'm coming over. And hopefully under. And maybe in the shower too. Everywhere and anywhere, I'm hoping."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A happy ending to the night.

Meeka was laying in front of the back door looking out the glass; keeping an eye out for intruders, coyotes, or whatever else was out there. When she heard me, she leapt up and kept her distance from me by heading into the kitchen. I slid out onto the deck through the back door and settled myself on the large, three-person swing. There was an ashtray on the coffee table in front of me, so I lit a smoke and relaxed back.

Being with Mike had been surprisingly good. The amount of hesitation and nervousness he’d been showing before had worried me, but I was glad that he seemed to get over those blocks and let himself enjoy it. I was also pretty happy that he didn't seem to have pain in his joints, either during or after. I hoped this was a good sign for whatever the future of our sex life held.

Easily swinging back and forth, I enjoyed the rest of my smoke and just watched what I could see of the sunset through the trees. It was certainly quiet out here in the country; even little Grande Prairie had more random noise. The only sounds out here were birds twittering, frogs croaking, and the very rare sounds of tires on gravel as random cars went by.

I was thinking about having another smoke when I heard a scratching noise from the house. It seemed that Meeka wanted to come out on the deck and was trying to get my attention to open the door for her. I didn't feel comfortable letting her out; the deck didn't have a gate and I wasn't sure she'd listen to me if she wanted to run off. I tried to ignore her, but she got more and more insistent, scraping at the glass harder and occasionally giving a little woof. I was getting ready to go back in the house when the door opened and Meeka bounded out.

"You, okay?" Mike asked, coming over to sit next to me on the swing. He'd tossed on his bathrobe, but his feet were bare.

"Fine; just needed a smoke."

I lit up a cigarette and Mike grabbed his pack of cigarettes from his bathrobe pocket and lit one of his own. "You can smoke in the house if you want. I generally don't only because I'm trying to cut back, but you're more than welcome to."

"Nah, that's okay. I'm used to smoking outside anyway; Paulie's got asthma and is really sensitive to it. Did I wake you up?"

"Meeka being annoying is what woke me up. Silly girl. It's a good thing I love the brute."

We watched as she ripped energetically through the trees, chasing bugs. She was healthy and active and her coat shone in the dying light of the sunset. “You know, I can tell that you actually hate her. Abuse her terribly. Don't feed her ever," I joked with him, my mouth twitching in and out of a smile.

"You caught me, horrible dog abuser that I am." Mike returned my smile. "Gonna report me?" He took a drag from his smoke.

"Punish you, more likely," I said, dropping my voice low.

"Oh?" One of Mike's eyebrows arched.

"Yeah. Keep you on your back all weekend. Sounds like an adequate punishment to me."

"You and what army, bud?" His eyes sparkled.

"Don't think I'll need an army. I'm pretty sure I could convince you fairly easily." I slipped my hand through the opening of his robe and gave his dick a bit of a feel. His cock was pulsing to his heartbeat; it was thickening but was nowhere near hard.

“How ‘bout I acknowledge my awful, terrible treatment of that huge fluff ball over there, and I’ll accept staying on my back for a bit of the weekend. ‘Cause I really, really want you on your back. Now. Hmm?”

My dick started sitting up and taking notice and I pulled my hand away. “What do you want to do?” I took one last drag from my smoke then crushed it out in the ashtray.

He stubbed out his own cigarette and said, “Frotting with you was amazing, but I want to try something else if you’re up to it.” He rested a hand on my thigh, then started drawing little squiggles with his fingertips.

I spread my legs to show the obvious swelling in my jeans. “I think I’m definitely up for whatever you want.” His fingers worked their way up my thigh.

“You just have to promise me something: you’ll tell me if you’re not enjoying, or I hurt you or do anything wrong, okay?”

“My dick doesn’t lie, Mike; it can’t. And absolutely I’ll let you know. Now, what were you thinking?”

“It’s going to take me a bit to be ready for another round, so I thought I could spend some time up close and personal with your dick. In my mouth.”

I sat up straight at that and I swallowed hard. “I…what…you…” Shit. It had been a long, long time since anyone blew me; giving blow jobs were just one of a number of things that Parker wasn’t in to. “Shit, Mike. No beating around the bush, mmm?”

Mike chuckled, leaned in close, and licked the sensitive skin behind my ear. “Nope,” he said, low and husky. “Well, what do you think? You okay to risk your dick in my virgin mouth?”

My face reddened at that. How could I tell him one of my fantasies was that luscious mouth of his wrapped around my dick, his blue eyes looking up at me? He suckled on my earlobe and all I could think was how that feeling would be on my cock. I groaned and just let him suck and lick my neck and ear.

He gave my dick a gentle squeeze. “You didn’t answer me, Case’. You okay with me practising my blow job techniques on you?”

A spear of irrational jealousy shot through me; there was no way I wanted to be just a practice dick for him and then have him move on to some other guy. “Let’s not call it practice, hmm?” I deflected. “Let’s call it you ‘exploring’, ‘kay?”

He huffed a warm breath over my damp ear, giving me the shivers. “Fine. Can I ‘explore’ your dick with my mouth?”

“Absolutely, babe; you can explore my dick with your mouth anytime you want, starting right now.”

Mike gave my neck one last tiny lick, then he stood and smiled at me, and reached out his hand to help me up off the swing. I put my hand in his and he pulled me harder than I expected so I ended up in his arms. He kissed me hard, went over and let Meeka in the house, with us trailing in behind her.

~~~~~

We ended up back in bed, naked, me on my back and Mike kneeling between my legs, a grin on his face.

"I can't believe you're here laying in my bed, Case'."

I grinned back. "Believe it."

"You're so fucking gorgeous, I can't figure out why you want to be here with me." He stroked up both my legs from my knees to my hips.

"Why wouldn't I be? You just said you wanted to suck my dick. How could I refuse?"

The grin slipped from his face and his lips tightened. "You know what I mean. Comparing you to me, I’m so relatively inexperienced…”

I pushed myself up so I was sitting, I wrapped my arms and legs around him and kissed him hard.

"I'm here because, really, there no other place on the whole fucking planet I'd rather be, Mike. I mean, look at my dick." We both glanced down; I was harder than the steel pipe Mike worked on. My tip was a rich plum, pretty much the darkest I'd ever seen it, and it shone with precome. I rested my forehead on his. "Mike? Can I tell you something?"

"Go 'head."

"One of my most frequent fantasies is having you suck me, and you looking up at me with those fucking delicious eyes of yours. If it comes right down to it, you could have a virgin mouth or it could be the least virgin part of you; the only thing that matters to me is that it's your mouth. Your gorgeous, delectable, sinful mouth.” I took a breath in. "If you don't want to swallow, you don't have to, 'kay?"

He nodded then kissed me while pushing me back to the bed; when he broke the kiss the grin had finally returned to his face. "Hmm, Mr Farber. We seem to be in the same position we were in last night in the back of my truck."

"And I seem to remember you saying something about you taking advantage of me when you can. Well, now's your chance."

It was as if something clicked in Mike's brain; all of a sudden he looked confident, in control, and absolutely predatory. My dick responded to his look by throbbing and aching with need and whatever blood wasn't in my groin was flushing my cheeks.

"Mmm," he replied. "You certainly look good enough to eat, so I should absolutely take the chance now while I have you."

Any other time I would have groaned and rolled my eyes at his line, but instead, it seemed to just ratchet up my desire for him. God, I wanted him to devour me.

He laughed. “Looks like that kind of appeals to you, hmm?”

“Yeah, it does. Please?”

He gave me a wink and a single nod of his head. He kissed me hard once more, then moved on.

He was leisurely. He kissed, licked, and stroked me down my neck, each arm and across my chest and abdomen, even down my legs to my toes. Normally, if it was anyone else, I'd be playfully squirming around, stretching to try and grab a butt or a dick or even an arm to suck, kiss or tease. But for some reason, I felt completely fulfilled with him luxuriating over my body. It was so unrushed, relaxing yet arousing at the same time.

Every so often, he’d flick his eyes up to mine, the corners crinkling up into a smile every time our eyes made contact. Those fanning crow’s feet and the heat and happiness in his blue eyes made my dick lurch and my chest tighten every time I saw them. At some point, my eyes drifted closed and I’d just swam in the sensations of being cared for.

Eventually, after I assumed he was happy with the care he’d given the rest of my body, I felt his breath ghost over my dick. I was a melty puddle of goo, so totally relaxed that the only thing hard was my dick. I felt a few more puffs of breath and my eyes floated open. I looked down, again to see those fucking amazing blue eyes, but there wasn’t a hint of a smile to be seen.

“Scared, babe?” I finally asked.

He shook his head no. “Just kind of wanted you, umm, to be sure.”

I chuckled. “You going to bite it off?”

He relaxed. “No.”

“Then it’s all good. Go on, it’s not going to bite you.”

He nodded. He huffed out one more breath, and he carefully enveloped my tip with his mouth, and my head tilted back with a groan rumbling from me. He was being so fucking gentle, simply twirling his mouth around the tip, then releasing, then alternating by lightly sucking and dragging his lips from the corona up to the tip and off. Having him taking his time, being so caring, was the hottest thing that had been done to me in a while.

Finally, his tongue got into the action. I felt its warm firmness in my slit, just resting there. Then a bit of a wiggle. Then swirling around the head and the corona. Fuck. Mike was being just as careful and attentive with my dick as he had been with the rest of me. I could only groan and my hips began to rock slowly.

“You okay up there?” Mike said softly.

“Fucking fantastic, babe,” I managed to mumble out.

“Anything you need to add? Want me to do?”

I shook my head from side to side. “You’re doing awesome. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

I was getting ready for more careful attention to my tip when warmth all of a sudden engulfed me. The feeling was so intense, I bowed and arched, and shouted out in surprise. Mike had fucking deep throated me. Oh, God. The guy who was so anxious that he was inexperienced just swallowed me like he’d been doing it his whole life.

Before, while Mike was been tender and attentive with my body, my arousal had been slowly building, comfortable and easy. Now, that simmering ember low in the background burst into full flame.

“Oh, God, Mike, Mike, Mike,” I started babbling. “Please, Mike, please…” My hips had a mind of their own, and I desperately tried to keep them still them so I wouldn’t choke him.

He slowly lifted his head up, letting his lips trail up my shaft and over the glans again, his hands rubbing my hips and my thighs.

“Casey?” I heard him say softly. “Case’, open your eyes and look at me.”

I tilted my head and dragged my eyes open. Mike was looking up at me, a smirk on his face. With a crook of one eyebrow, he opened his mouth and engulfed my dick again.

“Oh, fuck Mike. Mike, babe, Mike, you’re so amazing, so fucking incredible,” I knew I was babbling again, but I didn’t care. The dual sensations of his hot, wet mouth around my cock and his blue eyes connecting with my soul were better than I could have ever fantasized about. I reached down and rested my hand against the dark curls that had sprung up from the side of his head.

He switched up. Instead of deep throating, he was carefully gliding his mouth up and down my shaft. I was pretty much hypnotized; I could do nothing but watch as his mouth moved up and down my dick, his eyes never leaving mine.

Then, I felt suction. Just a bit, but enough to increase my flames of arousal to a full-fledged house fire. My eyes rolled back in my head and my fingers gripped Mike’s hair.

“Oh, God, Mike, yes! Just like that! God!”

While he was sucking, his hands got into the action: one fondled my balls, gently rolling them through his fingers, while the other stroked the base of my dick in time with his mouth. Jesus fucking Christ. My climax was approaching at the rate of the high-speed train in Japan, and I patted Mike’s head carefully. “Mike,” I managed to blurt out, “Mike, pull off, babe, pull off.” He either didn’t hear me or didn’t want to pull off; he just kept sucking and stroking and fondling.

That high-speed train of arousal ripped through my station, exploding with the force of an atom bomb, and I arched up, shooting into Mike’s mouth over and over, greying out.

I heard a cough.

I floated a bit, leftover arousal causing me to twitch.

I heard a few more coughs then I felt Mike get off the bed. I could hardly put together two thoughts, but I did manage to say, “Mike? Mike, babe? You okay?”

Another cough, then I heard the water running. “Some kind of went up the back of my nose,” Mike said, his voice drifting from the bathroom. “Just need to have a drink.”

He didn’t sound like he was dying, so I enjoyed a few more aftershocks as I came down slowly from my orgasm.

I heard a few honks, the tap turn off, and then Mike returned to bed. I flopped over, and cuddled up next to him, making a vague attempt to not lean on him too much.

“Babe, that was awesome. You’re sure you’d never done that before? Deep-throating is kind of advanced.”

He hummed a no then said, “I, umm, wanted to make sure I could do whatever you wanted. Was it okay?”

“Babe,” I kissed his shoulder, “that was fantastic. You can explore my dick like that anytime you want. How did you ‘make sure’ you could do it? Bananas? Cucumbers?”

He said softly, “I bought some dildos and practised.” I admired his thoughtfulness. “And, Case’? You taste so much fucking better than plastic. SO much better.”

I chuckled. “Glad to hear.” My hand drifted over his chest and down his abdomen, where I brushed his hard dick. “Want me to take care of that for you, stud?” I whispered in his ear.

“No, ’s okay, sweetheart. The dick might be willing, but the rest of the body is kind of done for the night.”

Sweetheart. He called me sweetheart. I had to smile because my heart just unfurled in joy.

I glided my hand up his body and away from his dick, eventually resting my hand on his chest. I felt him pull up the sheets to cover us and I fell into an easy and relaxing slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My favourite line from the chapter:
> 
> You taste so much fucking better than plastic.
> 
> Hopefully, that is something we can all aspire to: tasting better than plastic.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An early morning that doesn't start with the crowing of a rooster, but is just as startling.

A woman’s screeching voice woke me from a dead sleep.

“Who the fuck are you and what the fuck are you doing in my bed!?”

Before I could focus on who was yelling at me, I heard her scream again. “Mike! You fucking bastard! Are you a fucking fag now? Screwing around on me with a guy?”

I heard her thump off and I hastily jumped from the bed and tossed on my jeans and a t-shirt.

I heard pounding then more screaming. “Mike! You get the fuck out of your studio and explain to me, your wife, what the fuck a guy is doing in our bed!”

“Jesus Christ, Tara! What the fuck are you doing!” Stomping and rustling, then a door slammed.

As I left Mike’s bedroom, I saw Mike and someone I assumed was the infamous Tara standing toe to toe in the living room.

“You tell me, Mike! I come home, expecting you to be happy to see me, and I find out you’ve turned into a fag while I was gone! Or were you lying to me all these years?”

I stood near the island in the kitchen, catching Mike’s eye. He just nodded to me and turned his focus back to Tara. “You fucking know I’m bi. I told you before we even started dating.”

“Well,” she huffed, “I thought you were just saying that to make yourself sound more sexy or something. Besides, how dare you bring someone else to our bed?”

“How dare you ask! You’ve cheated on me how many times? And this last time, you’ve been gone for months! Hope his dick was as big as his paycheque!”

She slapped him, a ring on her hand slicing a good sized cut on his cheek. I stepped forward, and Mike just put up a hand to hold me off. “Tara, you don’t get to ever fucking hit me again. Get out. Don’t come back. I started divorce proceedings.”

“I know, that’s why I’m here; the government notified me by email. I don’t want to get a divorce but I see you couldn’t wait to get rid of me! Started shacking up with some…with some…”

“His name is Casey, and he’s been better to me in the past couple of days than you were to me our whole marriage!”

“But he’s…and you’re…”

“Yes, he’s a guy, and I care about him. A lot. Now, get the fuck out, Tara, and don’t come back. Maybe the kid from the patch will take you back.”

I could see her thinking about smacking him again, but she ended up deciding not to. She turned to me, venom snaking from her eyes, and said, “You think you’re getting some sugar daddy, but you’ll see. He can’t keep it up; you’ll leave him soon enough when you realize you can’t get enough action no matter what he pays you.”

“Well, ma’am,” I said politely with a hard edge, “he’s already given me plenty of action in the past couple of days that I’d be satisfied only with what we’ve done for a long, long time. And funny enough, he didn’t have to pay me a dime. Now, I think Mike wants you to leave.”

Her eyes narrowed and she turned almost purple in rage, but just then Mike came up behind her, corralled her and shuffled her out the door. We heard gravel spray out from under her tires as she drove away.

Mike flopped down on his couch, his head in his hands.

“Babe, can I get you a coffee?”

He nodded.

“What do you want in it?”

“Two cream, two sugars. Thanks, Case’.”

I brewed both of us a coffee and then sat next to on the sofa, handing him a mug.

“Thanks,” Mike mumbled and took a sip. “Sorry you had to see that.”

I shrugged. “It’s okay. She seems…special.”

Mike sighed. “Yeah, special is a good word for her.” Meeka tiptoed into the living room from down where Mike’s studio was and sat in front of him whining softly. He petted her thick fur, and she dropped to the floor, her belly exposed. “Yeah, yeah, you brute. Sorry she scared you, but you’re okay.” He ruffled the fur on her abdomen, and her tongue lolled from her mouth.

We sat in silence for a bit, just drinking our coffees, Mike petting Meeka occasionally. Mike was just finishing up his last mouthful when I asked, “Mike? Has Tara hit you before?”

He put his now empty mug on the coffee table and leaned back to look at me. “I wouldn’t call it hitting. You saw her; she’s five foot nothing and weighs, like, a hundred pounds. She can’t really hurt me.”

“Doesn’t matter if she ‘really’ hurts you or not. Has she hit you?”

He broke our gaze. That told me everything.

“How often?” I asked quietly.

He shrugged. “Only when her drinking is out of control. Maybe every few months? As I said, though, she’s never hurt me.”

Shit. I knew a lot of guys didn’t think that if their wives or girlfriends hit them it was abuse, and it looked like Mike was one of them. Filing away that thought for later, I switched up the topic of the conversation. “When did you get up? I didn’t even feel you leave the bed.”

“Mmm, maybe about 3 or 4? Couldn’t sleep and I knew I had some orders for some cabochons that I needed to work on.”

“How come you couldn’t sleep? Was I snoring?” I knew when I was really out, my snoring sounded like a tug boat horn.

“No, it’s just…” he shrugged again.

“Pain?”

“Some. Anyway, it’s fine. What do you want to do today? Can you ride a quad? Maybe we take mine out for a ride.”

I took a quick glance at Mike as I swallowed down the last of my coffee. I felt fine, I’d actually slept really well, but Mike looked pretty exhausted.

“Maybe tomorrow. Today I think I’d just like to stay in, maybe have a nap, and let Meeka get to know me.”

“Sounds great, but aren’t you going to be bored?”

I laughed. “Mike, I’m an easy-going guy. There’s a t.v., a fridge, and a deck. And a really hot and handsome guy here too.” I nudged him with my shoulder which made him smile. “Besides, if you don’t mind me watching, I’d love to see you work on a gem or something. And naps are the best anytime, anywhere.” I checked the clock on the entertainment unit and saw it was only 8:00; way too early to be up on a Saturday.

“Mike, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to have a smoke then you’re going to watch Meeka do her thing outside while I get your pets organized: wash bowls, feed ‘em, scoop litter, whatever. Then I’ll get you and we’re going back to bed.”

Mike just stared at me, his eyes wide.

“What? Don’t think you can go back to sleep? I’ve got an idea that will help you drift right off,” I said with a wink. I knew how well I slept after a blow job; I figured it might work for Mike as well. At least it might let him forget about the world for a while.

“But…” Mike stammered out.

“But what?”

“Why?”

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Mike had been taking care of his household, Tara included, for a long time. His house was neat, Meeka was healthy and I bet when I met the cats they would be too, he worked hard at a physically demanding job, and he drove an hour a day for his work. Mike needed someone to look after him for a change, and I had no problems doing that. “Look, Mike. When was the last time you didn’t have to worry about anything but taking care of yourself?”

He looked down to the floor.

“I also bet you haven’t been taking care of yourself all that well either,” I continued. “Right now, you looked totally drained. Hell, just having an ex of mine yell at me in front of my present guy would make me want to crawl under the covers for a month, never mind you’re in pain and didn’t sleep well. Do you take pain killers? Can I get you some?”

He shook his head no.

I narrowed my eyes. “Why not?”

“Lots of reasons, a whole bunch of which I don’t want to get in to right now. I’ll take an Advil once in while to try and take the edge off.”

“Where are they, and I’ll grab you some.”

He sighed. “Cabinet above the microwave. Cat and dog foods are in there too. One scoop for the cats, plus half a can of wet in a separate dish, and Meeka gets three scoops.”

“Good man.” I hiked myself up off the sofa, and put out a hand for Mike. He grabbed on, and I pulled him up and off the sofa as well.

We made it into the kitchen, and I grabbed the Advil and a glass of water for him. He swallowed them, then I cleaned up his face with some wet paper towels and we headed out to the deck, letting Meeka follow us out.

After a quick smoke, it didn’t take me long to get Mike’s pets organized. At the rattling of the food container, a couple of cats came racing towards me; Mike had told me the orange one was Cheeto (“big, orange and lays around a lot” was Mike’s description) and the grey one was Baby (“tiny, cute and clingy”). I fed them and Mike let Meeka back in the house so I could feed her too. When they all seemed satisfied, I wandered back outside. Mike was reclining on the swing, one leg bent up beside him, the other on the deck slowly rocking him back and forth. His eyes were half closed and his cigarette was laying in the ashtray burning down unsmoked.

I sat down next to Mike and said, “So, what do you think? Back to bed for a while? I’m not usually up until noon on a Saturday, so I know I’d like to lie down again. Hmm?”

He gave a small nod, I crushed out his smoke for him and we went back inside.

After we’d stripped off, we crawled back into bed, me curling up to Mike. I nuzzled his neck with my nose, and he softly sighed.  
“What do you think, babe? Can I help you fall asleep?”

“You don’t have to…” he mumbled.

“Mmm, but I want to.” I nibbled on his ear and he gave a quiet moan.

“How?”

“I want to blow you. Better than a sleeping pill.”

“God, you might kill me instead, you know.”

“Maybe, but what a way to go, right?”

“Mmm,” was his reply. I took that for agreement and kissed down his neck.

I felt Mike grab for me and pet my arm but I wiggled away and said, “Mike, just let me take care of you right now. Relax and enjoy.”

His hand slipped away, and I was happy he wasn’t struggling against me.

As much as I wanted to spend time making love to Mike’s body, I knew I just wanted to get to the main attraction and get Mike off, letting him sleep. There’d be time enough later for me to spend the time I wanted to.

I rested my head next to his on his pillow, and carefully blew in his ear, causing him to shiver. As I rested my hand on his chest, I murmured quietly, “Babe, you’re so fucking hot. Handsome and hot. Gorgeous. And hot.”

I trailed my hand over to one nipple and gently teased it hard.

“But…” he replied softly.

“No. Don’t say anything. Don’t think. Just listen and feel.” He seemed to relax into the bed a bit. “You know, when we’re both feeling up to it, I still want to lick all your freckles. Don’t think I forgot about that.”

He gave a tiny moan. I trailed my hand over to his other nipple, tweaking it up to a point so he had a matching pair.

“I still have to find them all. Look and search over every plane and in every nook and cranny. On your chest.”

I carefully petted his chest.

“On your stomach.”

I gently rubbed his abdomen.

“On your hips.”

I grazed my nails over one hip then the other.

“Your thighs.”

I touched his thigh, letting my hand fall into the space between his legs and petting up the inside.

“Your balls.”

I cupped them and heard a soft intake of air. I let them roll through my fingers and in my hand, then I searched between them for the base of his dick. In one stroke, I let my fingers pet his dick from the base to the tip. He wasn’t leaking yet, so I just continued teasing with my fingertips: along and around the shaft, tracing the corona, petting the tip.

“Mmm, gonna also check to see if your dick is freckled too. Don’t know that I’ve ever seen a freckled dick, so I’m going to have to check really carefully. Right now, though, from what I’m feeling your dick is amazing and I don’t need to see a damn thing.”

I gripped it and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Hard. Thick. Long. I can hardly wait to get it down my throat.”

That got the reaction I was waiting for: a long groan and the beginning drips of precome. I wiped over the tip with my palm and started lightly stroking.

“That’s it, babe. Just think about me and my mouth. Remember how I told you over the phone how much I wanted to suck your brain out through your dick? It’s gonna happen now.”

His head flopped over to the side and he said just one word, “Please.”

“Absolutely, babe.”

I kissed softly but quickly over his chest then planted a few more kisses on his belly and his closest hip. His dick was right in my sight, and what a beautiful sight it was. From the tip to the sac, he was a dark, rich, wine red, the head being just a touch darker. Lightly tapered from a wide base, a sleek head capped the shaft, and a curve turned the head towards me, the slit trying its best to look at me.

I just touched my lips to the head, and I heard a soft groan. Licking my lips, I let my mouth glide over his head and down his shaft, making sure I let my saliva pool and drip over him as I did so. I got my hand into the action and stroked all over his groin: his thighs, his crotch, his balls, his taint. Adding suction made him groan more and his hips rock up in counterpoint to my mouth’s strokes. He was careful; his hips barely pulsed, but enough to let me know his body was enjoying what I was doing.

I gave one long hard suck, then lifted off. “Okay, babe?”

“Uh huh. Please, sweetheart, please,” he begged, barely whispering the words out.

Even though his eyes were closed and he couldn’t see me, I smiled and took a deep breath. I opened my mouth, relaxed my throat, and swallowed him down.

“Fuck!” he shouted and his hips bowed and arched.

He was neither the longest nor the thickest I’d ever had in my mouth, but damn if he wasn’t the absolute tastiest. His precome tasted like bittersweet nectar that I knew I could easily get addicted to. His natural musk wafted from his crotch and swirled in my nose to add a delicious layer of depth. Fuck, it’d have been easy to get lost in the taste and smell of him, so I forced myself to focus away from those sensations. I felt his girth between my lips and his tip edging down my throat. I swallowed.

“Shit! God, Casey, God!”

I backed off, took another deep breath, and hummed a bit as I swallowed him back down again.

I repeated the pattern: release, deep breath, hum and swallow a number of times until I felt Mike’s hips start to pump harder.

“Please, Casey, please!”

I went back to simple mouthing of him to give my throat a bit of a break. I knew he was close, and I had the experience to know how to tip him over now. After one last stroke, I suckled his tip, and swirled my tongue around the corona a few times. I gently poked around a bit with my tip and found his frenulum; I took a breath in then I pressed my tongue down firmly into the little dip in the supporting tissue right behind the tag of skin.

“Yes!” I let Mike press his hips into my face, and he squirted out thick, delicious come over and over into my mouth, forcing me to swallow a number of times and a bit dripped out the corner of my mouth. I carefully suckled him until he softened and I pulled off when his hand stroked through my blond waves.

“Sweetheart, that was amazing. I’m going to have to ask you what the fuck you did, ‘cause that one came out of nowhere.”

“Mmm, not a problem, babe. Later, though, mmm?”

I felt him vaguely nod as I curled back up to him and before I knew it, both he and I were fast asleep.

~~~~~

Sometime in the early afternoon, I was drifting half-awake when the ringing of my cell phone brought me fully to the present. I grabbed my phone; it was an unknown number.

“Hello?” I said.

“Love Butt! I missed you so much!”

Oh, God. It was Parker. I flipped the covers off me and grabbed my jeans; there was no way I was going to have this conversation while I was in Mike’s bed. “Parker?! Why are you calling?”

I felt Mike’s hand on my shoulder; when I turned, he mouthed for me to stay and motioned he would leave. I tossed my jeans back down on the floor and sat up against the headboard.

“Why else would I be calling? I have great news: I’m divorcing Rose. I finally realized that she and I shouldn’t be together even if that means Jackie has divorced parents. I missed you so much; I need you, lover. We can finally be together.”

“Parker. It’s too late. The second you left me, it was too late.”

“It’s not too late. Never too late, Love Butt. I’m almost in Grande Prairie. Where are you? Let me pick you up and we can talk. Please.”

I rubbed my forehead and felt Mike’s hand on my arm. I dropped my hand, and I saw him offering me an ashtray and a cup of coffee. I smiled and nodded; he placed them on the bedside table for me.

“No, Parker. I’m not seeing you. We’re not going to talk.”

“But, Love Butt…”

“No, Parker. Don’t call again.” I hung up and blocked the number. I exchanged the phone for the ashtray, and lit a smoke.

The bed dipped next to me.

“You okay?” Mike asked softly.

I took a deep drag from my smoke and nodded. I forced the smoke out my nose.

“Wanna talk?” he asked again.

I didn’t answer. I kept pulling deep, long drags off my cigarette until it was down to the filter, and I crushed it out hard in the ashtray. I lit another smoke, took one short puff and let it out slowly.

“That was Parker. My ex.”

Mike hummed in answer.

“He’s finally getting the divorce he promised me he’d get. You know, when we met, he told me he was divorced. When I found out he wasn’t, he just said, ‘it was complicated’ but they were as good as divorced. I believed him.”

Mike laid his hand on mine. “And now?”

I gripped Mike’s hand hard and looked him straight in the eyes. “Now, I don’t fucking care. Parker can do whatever the fuck he wants. Right now, I’m not with him, I’m with you. Don’t really want to talk about this now, ‘kay?”

He patted my hand, and we headed to the main part of the house. Mike didn’t comment when I brought my smoke and my coffee with me; he just placed an ashtray on the side table next to me when I sat on the sofa.

“Hungry?” Mike said as he turned on the t.v. and handed me the remote.

I nodded and I focused on finding something to watch as Mike returned to the kitchen. I flipped through the channels, not really noticing what was on.

Hearing from Parker had thrown me for a loop. He and I had been together a long time, and I had expected to spend the rest of my life with him, even if he was a lying bastard. If he had called four or even two months ago, I would have taken him back in a heartbeat. Now, having experienced Mike and his honesty about his relationship with his own soon-to-be-ex-wife, I could see how me wanting to stay with Parker overshadowed his less desirable traits.

I finally settled on some random action movie that didn’t require a lot of brain cells to understand.

Mike handed me a plate with a couple of fried egg sandwiches, and he sat in a recliner, placing his own brunch on his knees. I watched him start to eat, and he looked over to me, an eyebrow crooked up. “Is this okay? I’m no gourmet cook but we won’t starve and it’ll at least have flavour.”

I smiled back. “Totally fine, babe.” I picked up one of my own sandwiches and took a bite.

We ate together in comfortable ease. The afternoon ticked along while we watched bad action movie after bad action movie. At some point, Mike made us popcorn, real stuff from the stove, and we ended up having a popcorn fight with Meeka hoovering up all the kernels that hit the floor. It was stress-free and Mike never commented or even hinted at the phone call I’d received earlier.

After the third movie, Mike said he wanted more than just popcorn, so he fired up the barbecue and grilled up some burgers. We enjoyed them on the deck, Meeka laying on the deck floor between us, hoping that our burgers would end up in front of her like the popcorn had earlier.

When we were done, we sat for a while, just smoking and relaxing when an itch started inside my brain. Mike hadn’t asked anything and acted the same as he was before but I had the urge that I wanted to talk to him about Parker. All afternoon, even with the relaxed atmosphere, Parker had never been far from my consciousness.

“Do you want to hear about him?” I finally asked softly.

“Only if you want. I’d like to hear about him at some point, only because he’s part of your past and obviously still affecting your present. But you don’t have to right now.”

I lit a cigarette and took a couple of slow drags.

“I met Parker when I was in my first year at NAIT for Digital Media and IT. I was at a gay bar with some other students and he asked me to dance. He was so handsome; gorgeous really.”

“But you think I’m gorgeous.”

“Babe,” I picked up his hand and kissed the back, “you’ve redefined gorgeous for me. Parker is a fucking rotten turd next to you. Anyway, he pursued me hard after we met that night. Texted and called just the right amount. Took me on expensive dates. Gave me clothing. All sorts of things. He pulled me in hook, line and sinker. Told me he loved me after only a couple of months. It was so easy for me to say it back: he was handsome, was showering me with attention, and made me feel like I was the most important person in the world. The summer between the two years of my classes, he started begging me to go up to northern Alberta with him. The oil patch was the place for young guys to make money, and both of us were young enough. I was barely 20 and Parker was 25. He convinced me that if after a year I didn’t like it, I could always pick my classes back up. We moved up to Grande Prairie that fall.

“He had a few certificates under his belt, so it was easy for Parker to find work, whereas I had more trouble. I got hired on at Niagara; the money wasn’t as good as I could get if I were working the patch, but it was the most money I’d ever made in my life. Parker worked a rotation of a bunch of weeks up north then spent a week to ten days back in G.P. Or so I thought.

“A couple of years after we were up here, I happened to accidentally answer his phone thinking it was mine. Boy, was that an eye-opening mistake. The woman on the line introduced herself as his wife, not his ex-wife, and I just introduced myself as Parker’s friend. She knew who I was, but thought I was a co-worker who shared a house with him and I didn’t dissuade her from the thought. She told me to pass on that the next time Parker was coming back to Edmonton, she needed him to bring a few things, and we hung up.

“Parker saw me on the phone. I was furious with him; called him a liar and all sorts of shit. He just kept telling me that he didn’t love her, that it was complicated but they were separated and he had no plans of going back to her. I found out later that some of his ‘rotations’ up north were actually him going back down to Edmonton to be with her and his little girl, Jackie. His wife had no idea that he and her husband were ‘separated’ but when she and I eventually ended up talking, she kicked him out.

“Parker didn’t want to lose Rose or Jackie and he told me he didn’t want to lose me either. He stayed with me for about a year after he and Rose separated; when she started squeaking about divorce, he decided he wanted to get back together with her. He left me with the lease on our house, bills, and truck payments. Fucking asshole. I ended up having to sell my truck and buy the beater I have now. I broke my lease and thankfully Paulie let me rent cheap from him. Losing my job was the last straw in a bunch of last straws.

“So, that’s the quick and dirty. I wouldn't be surprised if you wanted to take me and drop me off back home and never see me again.”

“Why in the ever loving fuck would I want to do that?” Mike asked.

I shrugged. “Staying with Parker was not the brightest thing I’ve ever done. Doesn’t really look good on my judgement.”

“Did you learn something?”

“Yeah. Stay away from Parker.” I gave Mike a quick kiss. “There are people in the world that I’d much rather be with. Especially one specific person who is so honest, I can’t stand saying his name in the same breath as Parker’s.”

I kissed him again, long, slow and hard.

I felt unsettled like I wanted to erase that I'd ever known Parker but that nothing would ever be enough. Pushing the kiss into Mike, he reclined, and I climbed on top of him, trying to somehow suck part of him into me in the desperate attempt to write over my experiences with Parker. There was a lot more to Parker's and my relationship, stuff that was not so great and Mike had no idea about. Hearing from Parker had stirred up all sorts of shit inside me and I wanted to just forget. I kissed and tongued and bit Mike's mouth, grinding my face hard into his.

Mike then wrenched his head from mine, breaking the kiss. "Hey, hey, Case'. A little too much."

When I clued into what Mike was saying, I felt like crap. I very, very lightly touched his lips with mine, then said, "God, I'm sorry Mike. I didn't mean to hurt you."

He rubbed a thumb over my lower lip and said softly, "Do I remind you of him?"

Oh shit. This had the potential to go south quick, so I just curled over him and said, "Mike, you are nothing like him. You don't look like him, you don't act like him and you don't talk like him."

"Then...?"

"I want to forget him."

"Do you still love him?"

Had I even loved Parker? I thought I had, but now I wasn't sure about that at all. While I was thinking, Mike sighed and tried to wriggle out from under me. I retreated and let him sit up, but I wasn't sure why he had his head in his hands.

"Mike?"

"Usually when someone takes that long to think if they're over someone, they're not. I've just fucked myself royally. I wanted to get to know you a lot more and I'm an idiot to think you might have wanted to do that with me."

Oh shit. We were heading southbound fast. "Fuck, Mike! It's not like that at all! I was just thinking and trying to decide if I ever did love him or not, that's all. Wanted to be really honest with you.”

“Don’t bullshit a bullshitter. If you still love him, I don’t want to be second best.”

“God, Mike. I swear, I don’t love him. I’m not really sure I ever did. I had fun with him, we connected well, err, horizontally, and I thought I would stay with him for the rest of my life. He just made me feel wanted and needed. Knowing I was just a warm body and someone to help pay the bills, well, fuck. If I’d been smarter, I’d have left earlier, but I guess brains are not part of the ‘Casey Package’.”

“Dunno about that, Case’. You’re not stupid. So, what now?” Mike asked quietly.

I looked down at my hands. I was starting to realize that, from Parker’s perspective, our relationship was less about my love for him and more about how he could use me. What his actual purpose for calling me today, I had no idea, but I deeply doubted it was because he was getting a divorce. And I was quite sure that Parker would never have ever spoken the words Mike had said earlier today to Tara.

We sat together quietly a few moments when I finally said, “I just really feel like having a shower now. Clean up a bit, ya know?” I offered my hand to him and looked him in the eyes. “Wanna come?”

He looked back at me, keeping eye contact with me for what seemed like an eternity. Then he blinked and said, “Sure,” placing his hand in mine. “Sounds like a plan. It’s been a very long time since I’ve done anything like that with another person. I’d like to see if I like it now as much as I liked then.” A crooked smile lit his face.

We knew neither of us were talking about showers. He was taking a risk with me to start something together, letting me take the lead.

I smiled back. “I promise, babe, it’ll be worth it.”

And we headed off to the shower, hand in hand.

~~~~~~~

The shower rinsed all the day’s worries and concerns down the drain with the soap bubbles. We had fun together, touching and rubbing each other and then jerking each other off. We fell back into bed giggling, laughing and sighing, the leftover warmth of the shower making us both drowsy.

We drifted, snuggling together. I probably could have fallen asleep for the night right then but I felt Meeka’s nose on my back. It was cold and wet, making me jump and Mike just laugh. He got up to let her out and came back to bed as soon as she was done. It was just so easy to fit comfortably with him and I fell asleep soon after.

I was dreaming. Mike and I were walking through the woods, Meeka bouncing playfully around us. It was like we just floating through the trees; we weren’t making a sound nor did it seem difficult to move. Birds were flying around us singing their little birdie hearts out to what sounded like my favourite music. It was just magical. I pulled Mike into my arms and he said, “Hey. Sweetheart. Your phone. Your phone…”

I woke with a start, Mike gently shaking my arm and saying, “Hey, come on, wake up. Your phone. It sounds important. Keeps ringing.”

I groaned and grabbed my phone off the bed, cursing technology and mornings and people who called at fucking 7:45 am on a Sunday.

“This better be a fucking emergency or I’ll…” I grumbled after I hit the answer button.

“Yeah, it is.” It was Paulie. “Parker keeps coming by. Knocking on the door and when I tell him you aren’t here, he yells at me then drives off. Dude, I’m gonna call the cops on him if he keeps on. I know you are with Mike, but it’s too fucking early for this shit. Can you please come and deal with him?”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I said, scrubbing my face and hair with my free hand.

“I wish I wasn’t, man. Shit, he’s here again.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll come and get rid of him. Tell him I’ll be an hour or so and for him to go grab a coffee or something.”

“Thanks, man,” he said and hung up with a click.

“Fuck!” I growled. “God-fucking-damn-it…” I tossed my phone back on the bedside table and started grabbing clothing so I could get out the door.

“Hey, Case’. What’s going on?” Mike asked, a hand on my back.

“Fucking Parker. Showed up at home. He’s bugging Paulie and he asked if I could get rid of him.” I felt Mike remove his hand and rustle around on his side of the bed.

I just figured Mike was rolling over and settling to go back to sleep, but once I was fully dressed, I turned around and so was Mike.

“You…you don’t have to come, babe. I’ll be okay to handle this on my own.” I was pretty sure I could, anyway.

Mike came over to me and kissed me softly on the lips. “I know you can. You are an adult man and are more than capable. I can just be backup. Then maybe if we are both feeling up to it, we can go to Cora’s for breakfast.”

“Maybe a little bit of marking your territory?” I know I’d be thinking a little of that myself if I were in his situation.

“Nope. I don’t own you and we haven’t had that discussion yet. I just want to make sure you are okay. After yesterday with Tara, I realized how good it was to have someone on my side. Just want to do the same.”

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “Sure, then. That would really be awesome. Thanks for the offer.”

“Then let’s go and get Parker out of your hair once and for and all.”

~~~~~~~

When we got back to my place, Parker was back and yelling at Paulie through the screen door. I saw Paulie point to us as we came up the sidewalk.

“Love Butt!” he shouted, turning then coming at me with arms wide open. “Where ya been? I’m finally back for real now!”

I closed my eyes, my cheeks burning with embarrassment.

“Love Butt?” Mike whispered.

“Yeah. Um…” What else could I say? I opened my eyes fast enough to see Parker coming in for a hug and I put up a hand and took a step back. “No, Parker. Not now. Not ever.”

Parker stuttered a step, then kept coming. “Whaddya mean? Playing hard to get? I don’t mind that. I…”

Mike put out a hand to stop him and Parker came up short. “The man said, ‘no’. You should respect that.”

Parker dropped his arms and huffed a laugh that left a sneer on his face. “And who the fuck are you?”

“Parker, this is Mike. He’s the guy I’m dating.” While Parker laughed, I continued. “Mike, this is Parker, my ex-boyfriend. Emphasis on the ex.”

“Look, Casey,” Parker said, his laughter slowing, “enough with the joking. There is no way you are dating this old dude. No fucking way.”

I knew what Parker was thinking. Parker himself was almost a darker version of me: big, muscular but with dark brown hair and a darker skin tone. He figured he was so much younger, hotter, and better looking than Mike that there was no contest. If only I could get Parker to understand he was no longer in the running.

“I’m staying with him this weekend and we’re not playing chess. That’s why I wasn’t here, you fucking asshole.”

I saw his face go grey and his mouth open in shock and I knew at that point he finally got it.

I continued, “So go back to Edmonton. Maybe Rose will take you back or maybe she won’t. All I know is there is nothing left here for you in Grande Prairie. Lose my address. Don’t call or text. Just go.”

For a moment, I saw his blood rush back into his face and rage poured out of his ears while he looked at Mike. “He’ll never be good as me. You’re wasting a prime opportunity to have me instead of…him.”

I grabbed Mike’s hand and smiled bitterly. “I’m happy with him. He’s good to me. Talks to me like an equal. Respects me. Likes me. Is fucking awesome in bed.” Parker drew in a hiss, but I went on. “So go back to Rose or not. Maybe find some other shmuck to con into taking care of you. It won’t be me, though. I don’t want you and I’m not looking.”

“Fine!” He jammed one hand in his pocket to get his car keys and the other he pointed at me. “You’ll regret not coming back! I took better care of you than this dickless wonder ever could even with a whole bottle of Viagra!”

I said nothing in reply so he huffed off back to his car. He swung the door open and yelled, “You were fucking shit in bed too! Never told you but I’m glad I finally did!” He squealed his wheels as he drove away.

“He sure told you,” Mike mumbled.

I sighed. “Yeah. I’m just all broken up inside.” I drew him into a hug and kissed his head. We stood there a couple of minutes when I heard Mike mumble something into my chest. I let him go and he said, “So, Cora’s?”

I squeezed him hard once then let him go, taking his hand in mine. “Sure. Sounds perfect. Just like you.”

~~~~~

Epilogue

Thankfully, I got hired on at Terry’s and the three month probation period flew by. I worked hard during the day and was especially careful to not spend any more time with Mike at work than any other coworker. During the week, Mike and I went home to our separate places and on the weekend, I dropped my truck off at my place and we went back to his.

Right after the morning meeting on the last day of my probation period, Stan, the GM, came up to me and told me at some point during the day he’d call me into his office for a chat about my work and Terry’s. My palms immediately started to sweat but I nodded and headed off to do my work.

It was late afternoon when I finally was paged over the PA system. As I walked by the machine Mike was working at, he gave me a quick wink. I flashed him a quick smile and then headed to Stan’s office.

Stan told me nothing surprising. I worked hard, was on time and willing to work over when needed. There were lots of areas I could improve on and I was more than aware of that. I said I was willing to work to improve if only I was given a chance.

“There’s one more thing I have to talk to you about. Just a sec.” Then he paged Mike to his office.

My stomach did the flips and I know I lost all colour in my face. Shit. Shit. Shit. Terry’s had a policy to not hire family members to work on the floor together. Mike and/or I might lose our jobs.

A knock on the door and Stan told Mike to come in. When Mike saw me sitting there, he stopped for a just an instant then continued on to end up sitting next to me.

“So, Mike,” Stan said. “You know Casey here pretty well if I’m not mistaken.”

Mike just sighed and smiled sadly at me. “Yeah. I do. We’re dating.”

“And Tara?” Stan asked.

“Out of the picture. We’re going through the process of getting a divorce. It’ll probably be quite a few months before it’s done, but she and I aren’t living together and haven’t been for a while now.”

“You know our policy and that is there for a good reason, right?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“You’ve put me in a shitty situation, guys. I don’t want to have to let either of you go but I also can’t have you two working together either.” He paused, and my stomach was doing a combo of the rumba and the cha-cha with a bit of twerking thrown in for good measure. “You are both pretty fucking lucky there are going to be some changes around here. No one else on the floor knows this, so don’t go shooting your mouth off, but we’re expanding to a second shop across town. If you two can keep things quiet about dating from the rest of the staff for a couple of months, I can send one of you out there and one can stay here.”

My stomach stopped dancing around and then instead starting cheering. Yes! We keep our jobs and our relationship!

“How did you find out, Stan?” Mike asked quietly.

“That’s why I’m the manager,” Stan replied. “I manage to find out all sorts of things. Mike, you can go back to work. I still have a few things to finish up with Mr Farber here.”

Mike patted me on the shoulder as he left.

“Now, you. Yes, we would like you to keep working for us. Would you like to stay on permanently?”

“Yes! I’d love to keep working here! Thanks for the offer!”

I started floating on air but before I got too far gone, Stan said, “Now look. I’m putting a lot of trust in you. I hope you don’t break that trust. Either for working for us or being with Mike.”

“Sir?”

“Mike has been happier in the past few months than I’ve ever seen him and he’s been working here for five years now. Didn’t even know the fucker could smile, never mind look happy. I won’t tell you to stay with him if isn’t not working but if that day comes, don’t be like his ex. Man up and talk to him.”

“I respect him too much to do anything like that to him. But in all honesty, I don’t think that’ll be a problem.” I blushed.

“Oh, shit. You fell in love with that old fucker, didn’t you?”

I nodded.

Stan just shook his head. “I wish you all the luck, Casey. And congratulations, welcome to Terry’s!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My favourite line in this chapter:
> 
> “That’s why I’m the manager,” Stan replied. “I manage to find out all sorts of things. 
> 
> ~~~~
> 
> And so we come to happily-ever-after for our heroes. I hope you enjoyed the story and that you might take the time to check out some of my other stories too!


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